Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Dec 23, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Dec 23, 2004 |
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Logistics
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Shipping Aqua Bus - A Skate variant from KSINC Our Bureau
Work in progress on an Aqua Bus, a Skate boat variant, at KSNIC's slipway complex in Kochi. The first of the new boats was launched last Sunday, to ply between Fort Kochi and Vypeen. - K.K. Mustafah
Kochi , Dec. 22 AQUA BUS, a modified version of Skate 20 boats, has been introduced by the State public sector Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation to ply on the Kochi backwaters. Mr K.N. Satheesh, Managing Director of KSINC, said that the new boat, which is faster than Skate, could travel at a speed of 10 nautical miles per hour. Unlike Skate, Aqua Bus has an upper deck and a raised wheelhouse. The boat could also be deployed for tourism related activities, as tourists prefer to travel on the upper deck, he said. Since the interiors of the modified boat looks very much like a bus, it is named as Aqua Bus, he added. Of the six such boats, which will be handed over to the State Water Transport Department (SWTD), one will be 20-metres long. The others will have a length of 18 metres and a width of 4.5 metres. The Skate's width was 5.5 metres and length 20 metres. The construction work of the remaining boats is in progress at the KSINC's slipway complex at Thoppumpady. The hull is covered with steel and not fibre. Built at a cost of Rs 36.5 lakh, he said Aqua Bus is equipped with water sensors, which give an alarm in case water seeps into the vessel. According to Mr Satheesh, KSINC is making rapid strides in the navigation sector and the corporation has already started construction of 10 fibre vessels, the hulls of which are getting ready at Goa. Other projects include 10-seater inspection boats for Inland Waterways Authority of India and pilot boats for Cochin Port Trust. He said that there were several enquiries from private companies for constructing survey vessels luxury boats for corporate companies. Speaking on the occasion of the launching of Aqua Bus, the Transport Minister, Mr N. Sakthan had said that the boat would be deployed between Fort Kochi and Ernakulam. The SWTD would get 15 new boats in three months to replace a section of its ageing fleet, he said. The Minister had stated that eight new boats would be built for the SWTD in the next financial year and all the new boats would have mobile phone facility to ensure faster help in emergencies. Most of the 50 boats run by the SWTD at different places are old. They needed to be replaced by modern boats, he added.
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