Kochi Water Metro Limited (KWML) is gearing up to open tenders shortly for the second lot of 30 electric-hybrid Water Metro ferries, in order to step up operations from the mainland to islands in the backwaters.
These 50-passenger ferries will be smaller than the fleet of twenty-three 100-passenger ferries, the contract of which had been awarded to Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL). The shipyard has delivered a total of 12 ferries so far, which have been deployed by KWML on the High Court-Vypeen and Vyttila-Kakkanad routes, while the rest are expected to be delivered during the coming months. Each of the 100-passenger ferries costs approximately ₹7.36 crore. The 50-passenger ferries will have specifications similar to the first lot.
Back in 2022, the metro agency had readied plans to invite tenders for a total of fifty-five 50-passenger ferries that were to operate alongside their twenty-three 100-passenger counterparts in the Greater Kochi area. Aimed at ensuring feasible operations, it was decided in 2023 that KWML would place orders for 30 such vessels, while the rest of the 25 ferries (the third lot) would be operated on a public-private partnership (PPP) revenue-sharing basis.
