First Water Metro ferry to be handed to KMRL by month-end

It will be operated in the Vyttila-Kakkanad corridor

The first of the twenty-three 100-passenger-capacity ferries that have been envisaged under the first phase of the ₹747-crore Water Metro project was launched at the Cochin Shipyard on Thursday. The vessel’s underwater works are over, while the remaining works will be completed before delivering it to Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) by month-end. The mandatory works that ought to be done include readying of shaft alignment, sea valves, pump, and piping systems. These will be followed by basin trials for each system and subsequently sea trials in the presence of classification surveyors and KMRL officials. The construction of the other vessels is progressing at Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), said a press release by the metro agency. The vessel built at the small ship building facility of the shipyard was lifted using cradles and cranes and placed on the trolley system. This was then moved to the quay side, before being placed in water using a gantry crane in the presence of Alkesh Kumar Sarma, Managing Director, KMRL; Madhu S. Nair, CMD, Cochin Shipyard, and officials of the two agencies.