M'luru-Lakshadweep passenger vessel service resumes

The Lakshadweep administration has resumed passenger vessel services between Mangaluru and Lakshadweep from Old Port in Mangaluru.

The service was stopped a few years ago, within weeks after its inauguration. In the absence of direct connectivity, passengers from Mangaluru were sailing to Lakshadweep through Kochi. However, cargo ships operating at regular intervals, carry cement, construction materials and other items from Mangaluru to Lakshadweep islands.

The passengers have to obtain entry permit for boarding the 150-seat vessel, M V Minicoy with. This permit is issued by the Lakshadweep administration. The visitors also have to be sponsored by the residents. The sponsor will get papers cleared through the Lakshadweep administration. The ticket then can be booked using a valid identity card.

“I am employed as a construction worker in Lakshadweep. As I have to stay there for next three months, I will be sailing in Minicoy vessel to Lakshadweep,” said Kumar from Salem. In 2015, DK Coastal Regulation Zone Management Committee had granted no objection certificate to Lakshadweep administration for constructing the office in Bunder.

The MoU between the government of Karnataka and the administration of Union Territory of Lakshadweep was signed by then Minister of Textiles and Ports Baburao Chinchansur and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep administrator Rajesh Prasad in 2015.

Shahul Hameed, a staffer of the vessel said, "Lakshadweep administration is promoting tourism in the island. The resuming of vessel services will benefit tourists."