Greener future: GRSE inks contract with state Transport dept for 13 hybrid ferries

Kolkata: In a display of its capability to build new-age vessels and contribute towards a greener future, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd, on Tuesday, signed a contract with the state transport department for the delivery of 13 hybrid ferries.

The ferries will be operated on the River Hooghly by the West Bengal Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (WBTIDCL).

The contract was signed by Tapas Biswas, joint project director, West Bengal Inland Water Transport, Logistics and Spatial Development (WBIWTLSDP) and Cdr Shantanu Bose, IN(Retd), director (Shipbuilding), GRSE, in the presence of Snehasis Chakraborty, state Transport minister, among others. Of the 13 ferries for which the contract was signed, six will have twin decks with a capacity of 200 passengers each. The main deck will be air-conditioned. These vessels will be about 30 meters long and 8-10 meters wide. Their maximum speed will be 12 knots and each will require a crew of five. The estimated cost of these six vessels is

Rs 126 crore. The remaining seven vessels will have only a single deck with a passenger capacity of 100. These ferries will be nearly 25 meters long and 8 meters wide with a top speed of 9 knots. There is provision for five crew members on board. These seven vessels are expected to cost nearly Rs 100 crore. As per the contract, the hybrid ferries will carry passengers in all-weather conditions on River Hooghly (part of National Waterway – 1, the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly River System) in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA), stretching from Triveni in the north to Diamond Harbour in the south. The hybrid electric propulsion systems of the vessels will be powered by batteries as well as diesel generators. The hybrid system will offer greater flexibility to the operator to switch from one mode to the other as per requirement, allowing for greater safety. The use of batteries will reduce pollution substantially.

GRSE had earlier been assigned by the state government to design a prototype for a next generation zero-emission ferry.