Electrical outage causes ro-ro vessel to drift momentarily

An electrical outage in the generator resulted in a roll-on roll-off (Ro-Ro) vessel of the Kochi Corporation to drift momentarily on Tuesday night.

A delay of 10 to 15 seconds for the standby generator to take over, combined with strong currents due to low tide, caused the vessel to momentarily lose control and collide with two Chinese fishing nets.

No similar incident had occurred in the recent past, said sources in the Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation Limited (KSINC), which manages and operates ro-ro services on behalf of the Kochi Corporation.

“The onboard engineer promptly attended to the snag, and the vessel was reinstated into service without any interruption on Wednesday morning,” the sources said.

One of the two fishing net owners lodged a complaint, following which KSINC officials conducted an on-site inspection to assess the damage. The second owner is also expected to file a complaint. In both cases, compensation will be provided from the insurance proceeds, the sources said.