(COLOMBO) – A passenger ferry service between Sri Lanka and India is set to resume on May 13 after a lapse of nearly six months owing to choppy weather conditions in the strip of sea that separates the two countries, a topmost official said on Wednesday.
The ferry service between Sri Lanka’s northern coastal town of Kankesanthurai (KKS) in Jaffna and Nagapattinam in Southern India will re-commence on May 13, Controller General of Immigration and Emigration I.S.H.J. Ilukpitiya said.
He added that rough seas had caused the cancellation of the service during earlier instances.
The passenger ferry known as the ‘Cheriyapani’ arrived at the Kankesanthurai Port on October 14, 2023, at 11:30 a.m., after a 40-year hiatus.
The ‘Cheriyapani’ is a high-speed vessel owned by the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), measuring 35 metres in length and 9.6 metres in beam, with a capacity to accommodate 150 passengers.
The journey from Nagapattinam to Kankesanthurai port takes approximately four hours and is priced at 26,750 Sri Lankan rupees for a one-way trip and 53,500 Sri Lankan rupees for round trips.
Operators of the passenger ferry service claim that each passenger is allowed to carry goods weighing up to 50 kilograms.
