The roll on, roll off (ro-ro) ship mv Maria India, which called at Kollam port on March 17 and made a splash by becoming the first such ship to call at a port in the State, has been sent to a ship-breaking yard to be scrapped.
The ship had brought promises of Kollam turning out to be a ro-ro shipping activity port.
The ship’s agents said on Friday that the ship was docked at the Alang Ship Breaking Yard in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, for being scrapped. The 161-metre-long and 26-metre-wide vessel registered in Panama, with a draught of 6.5 metres when loaded, has a capacity to carry up to 150 loaded trucks and 210 cars. The ship, which arrived from Colombo on a trial run, received wide media coverage because the operators promised its regular service between Kollam and the Adani Hazira port in Gujarat. As part of promoting coastal shipping activity, the Ports Department had offered several incentives to the ship for operating between Kollam and Hazira.
mv Maria had left Kollam port ten days after its arrival, carrying 18 loaded trucks to Hazira. The ship was scheduled to return two weeks later. The scrapping of the ship has belied yet another expectation of the Kollam port becoming active. The port, which was commissioned in October 2007, is largely lying idle.
