Ganesh & Salim Javed
Baratang, January 8: Ferry services at the Middle Strait faced severe disruption on Thursday morning following last night’s ramp failure incident involving the vehicle ferry North Bay at Nilambur Jetty, Baratang. With North Bay taken out of service after the incident, only two small vehicle ferries—Austin IV and Austin V—were operating in the Middle Strait during the morning hours, leading to heavy congestion and long delays for NH-4 passengers.The situation caused inconvenience to commuters, transporters, and truck drivers, especially during peak morning hours.
Relief came around 2.30 pm when the vehicle ferry Lapathy was deployed to the Middle Strait to assist in ferry operations. The induction of Lapathy significantly eased the pressure on the route and brought much-needed relief to NH-4 passengers and vehicle operators.
The disruption stemmed from an incident late Wednesday night when the ramp of North Bay broke from one side at around 9.00 pm while unloading a loaded truck carrying construction materials at Nilambur Jetty. The truck remained stranded on the damaged ramp for nearly two hours, prompting emergency measures to prevent it from slipping into the sea. An excavator deployed for NHIDCL road construction work stabilized the truck, after which the load was offloaded into the sea to reduce weight and safely push the vehicle back into the ferry.
Following the incident, MV North Bay was withdrawn from service for repairs, resulting in reduced ferry capacity and congestion until additional arrangements were made.
