KSINC, SWTD to resume full-fledged tourist boat operations as festive season nears

KSINC and SWTD in Kerala gear up to resume tourist boat operations in September after monsoon season.

After a three-month lull due to the monsoon season, State-run agencies Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) and the State Water Transport department (SWTD) are gearing up to resume tourist boat operations in a big way from September, when the tourist and festive season gains momentum in Kerala.

The KSINC operates a total of six big tourist vessels in the backwaters off Marine Drive, while the SWTD operates two, including Vega 120, its fast ferry that plies in the Ernakulam-Fort Kochi corridor. The patronage from tourists for most of these vessels was limited to holidays and the weekend due to the rainy weather.

During this season, Sagara Rani I and II, the double-decked tourist vessels of the KSINC that shot to fame as being the first pair of vessels operating from Marine Drive to take guests on a cruise a few kilometres beyond Fort Kochi into the sea, confined their operations to within the backwaters. “Come September, and one of these vessels is all set to resume trips well into the sea. Its sister vessel would rejoin our fleet after drydocking, by September 15,” said R. Girija, managing director of the agency.

Likewise, Nefertiti, the KSINC’s Egyptian-themed luxury-cruise vessel, too would once again commence its four-hour lunch trip and five-hour dinner trip into the sea from September. The vessel could also be booked for exclusive trips for up to 75 people, she added.

The agency’s double-decked solar-powered tourist boat Sooryamshu, would in turn operate regular and exclusive trips from Marine Drive to isles located off Kochi, like Kadamakudy and Njarakkalm, while its single-deck air-conditioned vessels Michelle and Cleopatra would take turns in operating trips to the Matsyafed fish farm at Palaikari in Kottayam, covering the backwaters and inland waterways en route. One of them is set to operate to Kakkathuruth island in Alappuzha, once the illegal fishing nets and poles that were erected in the backwaters near the island by fishers are removed.

The SWTD, which has so far confined its operations to the commuter ferry sector, took the plunge into tourist boat operations from the Ernakulam Boat Jetty on Marine Drive earlier this year. It is now set to welcome guests on board Indra, its double-decked solar-tourist boat. “After the monsoon lull, enquiries have resumed for backwater cruises in the vessel. One such is to take turns in ferrying 100 people per trip from the 3,000-odd delegates who would be attending a doctors’ conference in the city, two months from now. Yet another is to ferry guests from a star hotel on Willingdon Island to the city and back. There is also a plan to procure a 20-passenger air-conditioned tourist boat to operate trips to Alappuzha,” said officials in the SWTD.