Sea Voyage with Indian Luxury ferry MV Scotia Prince : Cheaper, more fun and more comfortable than Air Travel

The vessel, MV Scotia Prince, a fully luxury cruise vessel, deployed by India, has so far carried around 2000 passengers in its seven sea voyages.

As per the agreement India will deploy one ship, Sri Lanka can deploy another. Currently Sri Lanka has called for tenders to charter a ship. Tickets and ground handling in Sri Lanka is handled by CSC-Ceylon Shipping Corporation, the general sales agent.

The ferry operates three times a week. According to a report appeared at Sunday Leader, The Ceylon Shipping Corporation-CSC however said that the demand is ‘not that attractive,’ and that it is lower than expected. “Even at this point, certain facilities are to be added to both terminals, and since it just started and is a new concept, we hope that it will pick up after six months,” the CSC official said.

The Ceylon Shipping Corporation CSC however does not make a loss from this lack of demand: in fact, they earn. “The CSC is acting as a general sales agent, we have not hired the vessel. We get a commission for the tickets sold, so as far as we are concerned, we are always making a profit.”

MV Scotia Prince has a capacity to ferry 1000 passengers, but to date it has never been full. “The cost of the tickets vary,” said the CSC official. “It costs around 12,000 dollars for the company to charter the vessel daily. It then depends on the weather conditions and the number of passengers. For example, in fair weather the consumption of fuel is lower. It is a complicated equation, and many cost factors need to be taken into account,” he explained.

The duration of the journey varies from 8 to 9 hours, and according to CSC the general observation is that it is mostly the middle class that make the voyage. “So far we have not conducted a survey, but from what is observed it is mostly tourists, people who have relations or connections who mainly use this service.

When asked to compare Ferry with Air Travel, CSC explained that it is not possible to compare the two modes of transportation. “In the aircraft, the passenger gets only a seat. On the cruise ship they are given a cabin, restaurants, discos, duty free and other entertainment. People use aircraft for fast travel, but there are more facilities on the ferry,” said the CSC official. This type of transportation is ideal for leisure travel, and for those with less money.

Some passengers have a fear of Flying in Aircraft, some cannot bear the Air Condition inside which is not adjustable, some dont like congested Leg room available, some hate facilities like Toilets inside aircraft. For them Passenger ferry is an ideal alternative option which has cheaper fares and better facilities but duration is longer. However the departure time is convenient than most of the flights which fly during Midnight and reach to Indian Destinations Midnight or early morning disturbing the good night's sleep.

Further, passengers are boarded from Port of Colombo situated at the heart of Capital, Colombo and this reduces addtional travelling for most of the passengers. Drive In facility offered to Indian Passengers with their own Vehicle is another huge attarction.  Baggage allowance of 80 Kilos is another huge attarction, specially for business minded.

Scotia Prince departs 6pm from each port and reaches in the Morning next day. This is much comfortable for kids and elders who would like to have a good night sleep after Dinner (Free) and get up in the morning without waiting long hours at Check-in Counters and Airport. For them the duration do not matter at all as they spend another night on board. For those young and adventure minded, the Ship is a world of opportunities with Sea observation, Fun, Foods, Drinks, Discos, shopping and many more. The Journey it self will become a part of Tour and Holiday.

It will be not surprising if many of them do not complain on the "short duration"..

One another drawback is the Port of Embarkation in India, which is far away from capital city of Tamil Nadu, Chenani. Many Sri Lankans going to India are heading there and have established contacts and familiar with the Chennai City and its transport system. However, Express Bus services and Train services available to link Tuticorin with Chennai and other main cities. Since Ferry arrives Tuticorin in the Morning, it is easy to find a connection. Even an Airport also available at Tuticorin / Thoothukudi from where you could catch up a Flight to Chennai or other cities. If one wants to spend a day, enough cheaper Hotels/ motels also available. (Soon we will publish a full guide on Tuticorin / Thoothukudi here) We hope, Flemingo liners the company who provide ferry service from Indian side will look for a connecting Bus / Train service upto Chennai without much cost, which will be a huge advantage specially for sri lankan passengers.


We suspect that there is some campaign by Airlines to stop people flocking to this great ferry service resumed after long lapse.!!