The air-conditioned ferries are said to be the first of their kind in Asia under a single command and control system being given on rent for film shooting during off-peak hours.
| Photo Credit: R.K. Nithin
In keeping with the hop-on, hop-off concept, Kochi Water Metro Limited (KWML) has begun renting out its popular electric-hybrid ferries for groups of people to go on backwater tours.
The air-conditioned ferries are said to be the first of their kind in Asia under a single command and control system being given on rent for film shooting during off-peak hours. “Encouraged by the response, we began renting them out to groups of people for ₹15,000 an hour, in sync with the hop-on, hop-off concept. The response has been good, with approximately 10 bookings during the past month alone, including from public-sector undertakings,” said Sajan John, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of KWML.
The Water Metro project was launched in April 2023, and the agency currently operates a total of eighteen 100-passenger ferries, mainly in the passenger-dense High Court-Fort Kochi and in the Vyttila-Kakkanad corridors.
“There is demand for such tours in both corridors, what with a multi-specialty hospital recently organising a tour for pregnant women in a Water Metro vessel in the Vyttila-Kakkanad corridor. As is the norm for ferry operations, there will be three crew members on board each of these vessels as they conduct such tours. Guests can also opt for a single trip, with the ferry returning with passengers in its return trip. They can opt to arrange food that can be served in the open space,” Mr. John said.
KWML had earlier stated that talks would be held with local bodies for launching hop-on, hop-off tours from the mainland to islands around Kochi, which in turn would boost the tourism prospects of the islands.
The agency had placed orders with Cochin Shipyard to procure a total of 23 ferries under Water Metro’s first phase, out of which the balance five are expected to be delivered in the coming months, it is learnt. As per the plan, a total of 78 ferries would be procured in a phased manner to operate in the backwaters in the Greater Kochi area. Even before their formal launch, the ferries won the iconic Gussies Electric Boat Awards-2022 in the commercial ferry category. It was instituted in memory of Gustave Trouve, a French electrical engineer who had 75 patents.
The Water Metro also featured in UN Habitat-World Cities Report Climate Action case studies last November.
Published – February 05, 2025 09:39 pm IST
