High-speed passenger ferry service between Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and Kankesanthurai in Sri Lanka will begin on October 10

After almost four-decade hiatus, high-speed passenger ferry service between Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and Kankesanthurai in Sri Lanka's Northern Province will resume on October 10. According to government sources, the Shipping Corporation of India's High-Speed Craft (HSC) Cheriyapani and a 14-member crew landed at Nagapattinam on Saturday evening. According to reports, the vessel began its trial voyage from Nagapattinam port about 09.40 a.m. on Sunday and took almost three hours to reach Kankesanthurai, which is approximately 60 nautical miles distant.

To sell tickets, the Shipping Corporation of India hired a private travel firm. According to Syed Zuhair, director of K.P.V Shaik Mohamed Rowther & Co Private Limited, a one-way ticket would cost roughly $7,670. During their journey, each passenger might bring up to 50 kilogrammes of luggage with them. Aside from the 14-member crew, the vessel could carry up to 150 guests. Because the ferry service involves the neighbouring island nation, the Union and State governments have made infrastructure arrangements for departments such as Customs, External Affairs, Shipping, Immigration, and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to set up offices alongside the newly built passenger terminal, according to official sources.

Nagapattinam is a little port on the Bay of Bengal's coast, near the mouth of the River Kaduvaiyar, which runs south of the town between the Akkaraipettai and Keechankuppam fisherman villages. To enable the transit of large boats, the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board has began dredging the Kaduvaiyar River estuary to remove accumulated silt at an anticipated cost of 3.5 crore.