India’s first RO-PAX ferry service between Ghogha and Dahej ports will be launched by honorable chief minister, Shri Vijaybhai Rupani on 27th October 2018, as the vessel ‘Voyage Symphony’ is primed to set sail on its maiden journey from Ghogha Terminal.
The High Speed ‘Passenger’ Ferry Service on the same route was inaugurated by the honorable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on 22nd October 2017. Detox Group, the group operating the RO-RO ferry service between Dahej & Ghogha ports under the SPV – Indigo Seaways Pvt. Ltd. is a Surat based company with an experience of over two decades in the field of Environmental Engineering, Industrial & Domestic waste Management and Development & Operations of
Environmental Infrastructure facilities across India. This RO-RO Ferry service is a PPP Project of Gujarat Maritime Board (Government of Gujarat) and Indigo Seaways Pvt. Ltd. (ISPL).
This project is launched in the Gulf of Cambay between the Dahej & Ghogha ports of Gujarat. It is a challenging project as the daily tidal variation is more than 11 m and the currents are more than 4 – 5 nautical miles during the day. Developing such a project in such adverse conditions was the biggest challenge the GMB had taken. They have successfully completed their job and now ISPL shall take up the ferry operations successfully.
The RO-Pax (Roll-on/ Roll-off) ferry service that will shuttle passengers as well as multi-wheeled cargo, will act as a bridge between South Gujarat and Saurashtra, helping promote business and increase revenue generation with the same infrastructure. The RO-PAX ferry service will reduce the travel time for cargo and passengers from 10 -12 hours to just 1.5 hours. ‘Voyage Symphony’ has a capacity
to load 60 trucks, 5 – 7 buses, 35 – 40 cars, 40 bikes and a cumulative capacity to carry 525 passengers on board per voyage.
The journey, which will be economical as compared to road travel, shall also help to reduce congestion on highways and reduce carbon footprint. For multi-wheeled empty cargo (including one Driver & Cleaner), the charges stand at Rs 4500 for trucks, Rs 4500 for buses, Rs 800 for cars, and Rs 150 for two wheelers. Additional charges applicable for cargo shall be Rs. 125/- per Ton in case of Trucks and
Rs. 2500/- for 36 passengers per Bus. The price of a one-way ticket for passengers will range between Rs 200 and Rs 400 depending on the Class of Seating.
The Vessel, Voyage Symphony, is of 2015 make and built in Korea with an Approximate length of 110 M, gross registered tonnage of 6543 MT and draft of 3.8m. The RO-PAX Ferry is a double-ended ferry that shall sail at an average speed of 15-17 knots with a sea transit time of 1 hour Between Dahej & Ghogha ports. Commercial operations shall be starting from 27th October 2018 after which the vessel shall do two round trips per day and within 6 months the vessel shall be completing upto 6 round trips per day.
The round trip between Bhavnagar to Surat, which currently takes 36 hours, can now be completed in 12 hours which will increase the revenue for the bus & truck operators. The decreased run time of vehicles will reduce the consumption of fossil fuel and reduce air pollution considerably.
Indigo Seaways Pvt. Ltd. (ISPL) shall also be starting an end to end bus service for passengers traveling from Surat to Bhavnagar. While the passengers can board the bus from Surat, Bharuch or Ankleshwar and de-board at Bhavnagar, the bus will be ferried between Dahej and Ghogha as a part of the journey. The end to end fare for this bus service shall be Rs 500 per person.
Apart from this, ISPL also plans to schedule special trips for the Jain community to visit Palitana. It normally takes 3 days for people traveling from Mumbai to complete one visit to Palitana, but with this ferry will help them complete their tour in 36 hours.
For the High speed passenger ferry ISPL invites bus operators to utilize the Ferry for transporting their passengers at a cost of Rs. 350/- per passenger for a round trip . This will reduce the travel time, wear and tear on vehicles and ensure the fastest route for transportation of passengers. The fast passenger ferry can make around 8 round trips in a day which means that it can transfer 3400 passengers per day.
ISPL has their independent website for booking viz. www.dgseaconnect.com and booking will be open from 25th October 2018. ISPL is also in process of engaging agents to support the end users who have limited access to internet and technology. The list of agents shall be disclosed soon.
ISPL is looking forward to connecting Kutch – Surat, Kutch – Mumbai and Pipavav – Mumbai in the near future. The vessels for these routes have already been Identified. These services shall reduce the travel time between South Gujarat & Saurashtra and boost business and tourism.
