The Ro-Ro ferry vessel, which started transporting people and vehicles between Ghogha in Saurashtra and Dahej in south Gujarat last month, came to a standstill mid-sea due to enginetrouble on Wednesday afternoon, officials said.
The vessel, which was carrying over 400 passengers and over 100 vehicles at the time of the incident, was safely towed to Ghogha port by tugboats, a Government official said.
“The Korean-made ship called ‘Voyage Symphony’ remained stationed in the Gulf of Cambay for around one hour before it was towed to Ghogha port by tugboats,” said chairman-managing director of Indigo Seaways Pvt Ltd (ISPL), Chetan Contractor.
ISPL, a Surat-based ferry operator, and the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) had entered into an agreement to run the Roll On-Roll Off (Ro-Ro) ferry service on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. This ferry service is also called as Ro-Pax (Roll On-Roll Off Passenger), as the ship carries both vehicles as well as passengers.
“While coming to Ghogha from Dahej, the captain of the ship noticed that the engine got overheated. For the safety of the passengers, the captain had decided to stop the engine when the ship was around 3 nautical miles (5.5 km) away from Ghogha port,” contractor said.
“The ship remained stationed in the sea for around one hour. Then it was towed to the Ghogha port by tugboats, which were sent from the port. Our technicians are now carrying out an inspection of the engine to find out the cause of the problem,” he added.
According to a senior official of the GMB, the ship was carrying 461 passengers and 114 vehicles. “We have been told by the operator that the engine of the ship got overheated. Along with the company, the GMB will also carry out an inspection of the ship before giving a green signal to resume the operations,” a senior GMB official said.