Plans to start Goa to Mumbai passenger liner

PANAJI: Those days are remembered with nostalgia by many who travelled aboard the Konkan Shakti and the Konkan Sevak. Twenty-two years later, one may get to experience those moments again with the state government passing a proposal to start a passenger liner service on the Goa-Mumbai-Goa route.Although a private firm Blue Ocean Cruisesrecently commenced its cruise on the same sea route, with its tickets priced atRs 13,000 per head, the cruise with all its luxury facilities is focussed onhigh-end tourists.State government officials say that thepassenger-liner service will be bereft of all luxury facilities and will servethe purpose of transportation, though with comfort."At present, all options are open. The technical committee will decide on what type of ship will be required in terms of power and speed. Right now, we still cannot comment whether the liner service will replicate the experiences people have of the past," says Captain of Ports James Braganza, further adding that the file had received in-principle approval.When contacted, Anupam Kishore, director Private and Public Partnership, said that the project's modalities are being worked out. Secretariat sources said that the government willshortly invite an expression of interest (EOI) from reputed shipping companies,shipping operators, shipping agents, semi-government and government agencieshaving proven experience in the field of handling and catering such type ofoperations/services for re-commencing the passenger liner service from Goa toMumbai and vice-versa.Many living in Mumbai and Goa will recalljourneys aboard the Konkan Shakti and Konkan Sevak in the seventies andeighties. The ships berthed at the ferry wharf (Bhaucha Dhakka) inMazagon-Mumbai and the Panaji port here."Hiring a coolie to help youcarry your trunk, and securing a place on the deck through a mad rush was thefirst experience one had to go through.Once the ship set sail,everyone settled down and it was a picnic to Goa watching the beautiful Konkancoast go by. While some groups would start sing-song sessions with guitars,others would start inquiring about which village you hailed from, whom you knew,and who you were related to," says Teresa D'Souza fromSocorro.Sharing of food, kids playing board games and a game ofhousie raised the camaraderie and the stops at Ratnagiri, Malwan, Vengurla, andRaigad watching fellow passengers disembark on canoes, which ferried them toshore, causing an almost hour long delay in the voyage did not really dampenmany spirits.The steamer service was stopped in the late-eightiesafter both ships were used to ferry Indian Peace Keeping Forces to SriLanka.The smaller catamarans that replaced them in the mid-ninetieswere described as "soulless" by many a traveller. 'The sea route on board thecatamarans could never be a pleasant experience for the passengers due to theheavy rolling and pitching effects of the sea throughout the entire journey,'states the proposal passed by the state government.