Joint venture for Indo-Lanka ferry connectivity

The Indo-Lanka ferry service commenced over a century ago in 1914, connecting Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu with Talaimannar in the island of Mannar in northwest Sri Lanka. The two railway lines connecting Chennai (Madras) with Colombo enabled countless number of passengers to move between the two countries for over 70 years in pursuit of their vocations, undertake pilgrimages and family reunions until the railway link was disrupted in the mid 1980s due to the conflict in Sri Lanka. Since then, the ferry service that connected Talaimannar with Dhanushkodi came to a grinding halt.

Against this backdrop, MMBL-Pathfinder Group, having affiliate companies in Sri Lanka and abroad and focusing on financial services, aviation, travel and leisure, logistic solutions, property and project development and promotion of international brands, carried out negotiations with the authorities concerned for several years with a view to getting approval for recommencing the ferry connection with India, is in discussion to set up a consortium involving Aitken Spence PLC and Norled AS, a leading ferry operator in Norway to operate the ferry service.

As a first step, the joint venture proposes to establish a passenger/cargo ferry connection between Colombo and Tuticorin. In the second stage, the project seeks to re-establish the Talaimannar-Rameshwaram ferry link after a gap of three decades. Finally, the consortium would expand the Colombo-Tuticorin ferry service to Kochi, the major port city in the state of Kerala, depending on the demand.

Together with MMBL-Pathfinder group, Aitken Spence PLC, one of Sri Lanka’s largest listed companies, with interests in hotels, travel trade, maritime services, logistic solutions, plantations, power generation etc. and Norled AS, one of the largest ferry operators in Norway, which has a fleet of 50 car and passenger ferries as well as 30 large express boats that operate along the coast and fjords of Norway, have already completed a pre-feasibility study and are currently engaged in undertaking a feasibility study.  Last week, the joint venture outlined its plans for proposed ferry operations to the meeting of SAARC Experts for launching cargo and passenger ferry services involving Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Over the years, there has been a steady growth of tourism with 316,000 Indians and 225,000 Sri Lankans visiting the two countries in 2015. Trade between the two countries have also registered a remarkable growth thanks to the Free Trade Agreement, which is expected to further increase with the conclusion of ECTA in the near future. The joint venture partners are of the view that a comfortable ferry service at regular intervals, low cost tickets and attractive free baggage allowances would entice a good a percentage of air travellers to modern ferries that would offer on board duty free shopping, entertainment and other facilities.

Connectivity between the two countries is strongly encouraged by the two governments. The Indian government helped rebuild the destroyed section of the railway to Talaimannar with a soft loan. Indian Prime Minister Modi declared open the restored line March last year during his visit to Sri Lanka, demonstrating his keen desire to re-establish the century old railway and ferry service that connected the two countries. The proposed ferry services would undoubtedly help revive strong religious and cultural bonds the island enjoyed with neighbouring Kerala and Tamil Nadu for centuries. The traditional Buddhist trail to Bodhgaya, Saranath, Kusinara etc. could be conveniently covered by Sri Lankan Buddhists, once the ferry connection is re-established with Rameshwaram. Similarly, north Indian worshipers of Lord Rama, and south Indian worshipers of Lord Murugan could revive pilgrimages to places of religious worship, including the historical Kataragama (Kathirkamamam) and Nallur Kandaswamy Kovils in Jaffna by Sri Lanka Government Railway.