2 roll-on-roll-off ferry boats in next 7-8 months: RND Min

River Navigation Minister Subhash Phal Desai on Saturday said that two roll-on-roll-off (RORO) ferryboats would be brought into service within the next 7-8 months.

“They will have a capacity to carry 16 four-wheelers at a time. This will save a lot of time and will have the capacity to take load of three conventional ferryboats at a time,” said Phal Desai.

He said, “We cannot introduce RORO ferryboats on all routes. We will run two ro-ro ferryboats on a trial basis and once successful, we will operate them on whichever routes possible. Once RORO ferryboats are brought into service, they will provide relief to commuters who take ferry routes everyday including the islanders or commuters who have to cross the rivers.”

Phal Desai was speaking after commissioning two new ferryboats – Mhadei and Dudhsagar on Saturday.

“We have added two new ferryboats to our fleet. With this we will get additional support where there is a shortage of ferry services. Presently, there are 18 routes on which we operate ferryboats. We have a total of 35 ferryboats, among which we have some with old engines which we have to replace in a phased manner,” he said. The new ferryboats would be deployed on the routes of Divar-Old Goa and Chorao-Ribandar.