Kochi Corporation plans to create a special purpose vehicle with Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) to operate the Fort Kochi-Vypeen Ro-Ro service, after deciding to end its eight-year association with Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC). The corporation expects the new arrangement to begin operations before the Cochin Carnival and bring a third Ro-Ro vessel into service by December.
Mayor V K Minimol said the corporation council is expected to approve the formation of the SPV this month, after which the proposal will be sent to the state government for approval. The proposed arrangement will place the corporation and KMRL at the centre of operating the service, which connects two important parts of Kochi across the waterway.
KSINC has operated the Ro-Ro vessels on the Fort Kochi-Vypeen sector since 2018 but failed to generate a profit from the service, according to the mayor. The corporation is now relying on two separate studies that found the operation could be financially viable. One feasibility study was conducted by Kochi Corporation, while another was conducted by KMRL.
The immediate operational challenge is the condition of the two vessels already serving the route. Both will be sent for dry docking, with the estimated cost placed at around Rs 5.5 crore for each vessel. Minimol said the corporation plans to entrust one vessel to Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) and send the second to another agency recommended by CSL.
The proposed SPV is intended to create a new operating structure for the service rather than continue the existing arrangement with KSINC. The corporation has already held discussions with KMRL on the plan, according to the mayor. The state government’s approval will be required after the municipal council clears the proposal.
The service is being reorganised as the corporation also prepares for the Cochin Carnival, when movement between Fort Kochi and Vypeen is expected to remain an important operational consideration. The mayor said the corporation expects to start operations through the SPV before the carnival and bring the third Ro-Ro into service by December.
The announcement also comes alongside separate civic decisions on housing rehabilitation and road repairs. The corporation will submit suggestions to the district collector on rehabilitating residents of the P and T Colony apartment complex at Mundamveli, where construction flaws have made the buildings difficult to occupy. The mayor said the contractor appointed by the Greater Cochin Development Authority to construct the complex would be held responsible for the defects.
On SA Road, which has developed uneven and bumpy sections after sinking, the corporation said repair work would follow a study by the National Institute of Technology Calicut. The report is expected within a fortnight. According to the mayor, preliminary findings indicate that relaying may have been carried out improperly, with the thickness of the bituminised layer varying between about 50cm in some areas and 30cm in others.
