Sail from Mumbai to Goa, with your car on board

MUMBAI: Picture this: you could soon hop on a ferry from Mumbai to Goa – and take your car along too. This new mode of travel on this popular route could soon be introduced by M2M Ferries, which has bought a RoPAX vessel (a roll-on, roll-off passenger ferry that can carry both passengers and vehicles) and is in the process of securing the necessary approvals to operate it between Mumbai and Goa.

M2M Ferries, which operates daily Ro-Ro (roll-on, roll-off) services between Mumbai and Mandwa, a gateway to the popular holiday destination Alibag in neighbouring Raigad district, says its RoPAX vessel can complete the Mumbai-Goa trip in six and half hours.

“We have a new vessel – a 15-year-old, second-hand vessel – that we have brought from Italy. The vessel is in dry dock in Mumbai and will be out next month,” said an official with M2M Ferries. “We have applied for permissions with the Director General of Shipping and other agencies.”

He said the company plans to run the Mumbai-Goa RoPAX service from Ferry Wharf in Mazgaon in Mumbai, to the Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) in Goa. “We are in talks with the Government of Goa to also allow our vessel to dock at a jetty at Panaji, as MPA is near Vasco, which is some distance from Panaji and Margao.’’

The company’s RoPAX vessel can carry 620 passengers and 60 cars. A fare structure is yet to be decided, said the official.

Devika Saigal of M2M Ferries said, “We have submitted our application to the DG, Shipping. Mumbai-Goa is a competitive market. It would be great of the central government offered us subsidies in VAT on fuel and tax concessions.”

Director General of Shipping, Shyam Jagannathan, confirmed that the agency has received the M2M Ferries application, and said it was “being processed”.

Pradeep Sudhakar, chief ship surveyor with the office of the Director General of Shipping said, “We have cleared what was submitted to us. The papers are now with the Indian Register of Shipping.’’

The proposed Mumbai-Goa RoPAX service is not the first of its kind in India. A similar service operates between Hazira and Ghogha in Gujarat, while M2M Ferries operates three short services a day (five on weekends) between Ferry Wharf in Mumbai and Mandwa in Raigad.

As for passenger ships operating between Mumbai and Goa, Cordellia Cruises currently runs a luxury cruise liner on this route. Another cruise liner called ‘Angriya’ used to operate on this sector but the service shut during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the 1990s, Damania Shipping operated a hovercraft from Ferry Wharf to Panaji and back. The vessel used to depart at 6 am and arrive in Goa by 1.30 pm, and return to Mumbai at night.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) is constructing jetties for Ro-Ro services at Kashid, Revdanda and Dighi along the Raigad coast, south of Mumbai. MMB, chief executive officer, Pradeep P said these jetties would be ready in about 18 months. “The Ro-Ro operator has a second vessel and can operate on this sector too,’’ he said, adding that the state government is building an industrial town at Dighi and wants it to be connected by a Ro-Ro service.