The engine of one of the two roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) ferries operating on the Vypeen-Fort Kochi route stopped functioning owing to overheating midway through a trip and drifted away on Monday evening, raising the spectre of passenger safety.
Sources with the Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC), which operates the ro-ro ferries for the Kochi Corporation, attributed the technical glitch to the sea chest of the vessel getting blocked disrupting the intake of seawater that serves as a coolant. It took around 30 minutes for the staff aboard to manually unclog it.
“Sea chest getting blocked owing to stuff like water hyacinth is not a rare occurrence. Though we clean it up before launching services daily it may still get clogged during the operation. Since the vessel was passing through the shipping channel, dropping anchor was not an option either,” KSINC sources said.
Meanwhile, KSINC is set to withdraw one of the two ro-ro ferries from service from Tuesday for engine overhaul, which has been overdue. Spare parts are likely to arrive on Tuesday and the vessel is likely to stay off the water for a week. “We had operated the vessel at our own risk considering the inconvenience to the passengers. But controlling the vessel has become increasingly difficult on account of the worsening low tide. Hence, the decision to withdraw it from service,” said sources.
The vessel is due for dry docking by early next year. Dry docking is done in a cycle of three years. The other vessel had undergone dry docking last August.
With one of the vessels out of service, passengers dependent on ro-ro services are likely to be in for a tough time. On an average, the twin services operate anywhere between 65 and 75 round trips a day accounting for about 5,000 users. Though the running time of the trip between Vypeen and Fort Kochi is about three to four minutes, it has been taking more of late considering the state of the vessels.
Published – October 21, 2024 09:59 pm IST
