The roof of the State Water Transport Department boat was damaged in the collision with the naval ship, which had arrived here for maintenance. Some of the passengers reportedly blamed the boat’s crew for not steering clear of the massive cruise ship Celebrity Solstice and staged a protest on the boat jetty.
Mr. Joseph Xavier, Traffic Superintendent, Ernakulam, of the department, said: “On seeing the cruise ship leaving its berth at the port, our boat plying from Ernakulam to Vypeen stopped midway and remained floating around 200 metres from the ship. Unlike most other ships which are towed out of the berth, the ship can be steered using its propellers. This caused a whirlpool in the vicinity and the boat lost control.” Both ships and passenger boats use the channel and the port generally informs the department of the movement of such big ships. This was not done. Neither did the ship sound its siren, Mr. Xavier pointed out.
Mr. Padmanabha Mallya, Secretary of the West Kochi Passengers’ Association, complained that the crew of tugs and ships are often careless in navigation within the port premises.
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