Port Blair, June 25: The newly chartered Inter Island vessel Coral Queen will be formally inducted into service tomorrow by the Lt. Governor at 0730 hours, in the presence of the Member of Parliament, Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray and the Chief Secretary, A&N Administration, Mr. Anindo Majumdar. The ship would immediately thereafter undertake its maiden voyage to Hut Bay at 0830 hrs on the same day, with passengers embarked onboard.
Coral Queen is a 1996 built vessel with a passenger capacity of 451 and with cruising speed of 12 knots, especially chartered for service to the Southern Group of Islands. The induction of the vessel Coral Queen would meet the long felt demand of the Islanders and will provide considerable augmentation in the shipping effort to the Southern Group of Islands. Once inducted, the ship will be available for service for a period of 5 years except for mandatory layoffs for maintenance / dry docking. The ship is also capable of carrying 100 Tons of cargo in addition to the passengers.
The detailed schedule of the ship is being planned by the Shipping Department and will be available through the regular Seva Suchna published in newspapers and also will be announced in the media suitably.