Ahmedabad:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Sunday flag off a Ro-Pax ferry service between Hazira and Ghogha in Gujarat via video conferencing. The service is expected to reduce a distance of 370 kms to 90 km through the sea route, thereby saving time and fuel and boosting eco and religious tourism in the Saurashtra region of the state, a release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
Modi will flag off the service at 11 am and also inaugurate a terminal at Hazira. He will interact with local users of the service via video conferencing, it said. Union Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani will be present on the occasion, said the PMO statement.
The three-deck Ro-Pax Ferry Vessel ‘Voyage Symphony’ connecting Hazira in Surat district in south Gujarat and Ghogha in Saurashtra’s Bhavnagar has a load capacity of 30 trucks, 100 passenger cars, and 500 passengers plus 34 crew and hospitality staff, it said. The Ro-Pax terminal has wide ranging facilities, including an administrative office building, a parking area, a sub-station, and a water tower.
The ferry service will reduce the distance between Ghogha and Hazira from 370 km to 90 km and the cargo travel time from 10-12 hours to about four hours, the release said. The ferry will make three trips daily, it said, adding that 5 lakh passengers will be transported annually besides 80,000 passenger vehicles, 50,000 two-wheelers and 30,000 trucks.
The service will boost eco-tourism and religious tourism in Gujarat, especially in Porbandar, Somnath, Dwarka and Palitana, and with enhanced connectivity, inflow of tourists in the famous Asiatic lion wildlife sanctuary at Gir will also grow, the release said..
