Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) has now given the go-ahead for construction of the new RoRo ferry terminals in the Gulf of Cambay. BR has been working on this project since 1997 through various stages of planning and design. Over the years a number of different terminal locations have been considered with those at Dahej and Gogha now going ahead. It is expected that more terminals will follow to provide routes further afield as the ferry service becomes established.

There is a large tidal range of over 11m on spring tides in the upper reaches of the Gulf of Cambay and this provides quite a challenge for loading and unloading RoRo vessels at all states of the tide. With strong tides and silt laden waters, some on-going dredging is to be expected. As well as the RoRo berths these terminals will also have separate berths for high speed catamaran vessels. On shore the terminals will be connected directly to the highway network and both will include high quality facilities for vehicles, drivers and passengers.

GMB is hoping that the ferry service, carrying trucks, cars and passengers, will make Saurashtra and South Gujarat more accessible to one another. There has to be a good chance of this working out now that the vast Dahej area is one of India’s leading industrial estates. A faster link to the city of Bhavnagar and its surrounding region is likely to be attractive for many local entrepreneurs.

We have now also been awarded the contract to Project Manage the process of attracting private sector Ferry companies to operate the service between the new terminals. Workshops will be held both in London and India to showcase the project to interested parties.
Our friends at TMG, the specialist ferry management and operations company, will be assisting us on this project. The Maritime Group: www.tmgeurope.co.uk