The ferry services to Goa from Mumbai which were to start in a few weeks, may now begin in September. The trip was originally slated to begin in December 2017, but has since been delayed.
Mumbai Port Trust announced that services will start this month, but the silence and lack of tickets' marketing tells something different. Officially, the last few clearances from the authorities are left, after which a cruise will be made to Goa as part of the 'trial' prior to the beginning of actual operations.
However, from the middle of May the sea becomes choppy because of the monsoon and it would not be possible to commence these services, which will have to wait for the season to get over, from September.
MbPT is currently giving final touches to the domestic terminal inside Victoria Dock, next to Mazagon's Ferry Wharf. Around Rs15 crore have been spent to refit the 2-floor structure.
The passenger ship is also undergoing repairs to meet with Indian regulations.
Sources said that probably the service will be pushed to the end of 2018 as parliamentary elections were slated for early 2019.
The last passenger sailing between Goa and Mumbai was in 1991 on ships Konkan Sevak and Konkan Shakti, but the services stopped after the vessels were sent to Sri Lanka. The voyage took about 24 hours then.