Dhinesh Kallungal By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When there is a heated debate still taking place in the public domain that do we need bullet trains or high-speed rail, the very mention of which often evokes images of exorbitantly expensive infrastructure projects, a Chinese firm has approached the state government evincing interest to provide ‘high flying vessels - WIG craft’ to Kerala as an alternative to the seaplane, hydrofoil and even short distance flight services.

Zhengzhou Haiwang Industrial Co Ltd, a Chinese firm which specializes in the R&D, Design, production, sales and development of ecological derivatives product for ground effect wing crafts, presented a demonstration of high flying vessel ‘WIG craft’ to the government officials in Thiruvananthapuram.

The high flying vessel ‘WIG craft’ is a boat that cruises just above the water surface. The WIG craft mainly fly in the ground effect region about 0.5 - 6 meters higher than the water surface or the ground and it can attain a speed range of 100-500 km/h which is 2 to 5 times of an ordinary ship and 2-10 times of a hovercraft. The WIG which has a seating capacity ranging from 12 - 200 is also capable to climb to an altitude of more than 500 meters.

H Dinesshan, director of Ports, who attended the presentation, said the project seems to be an ideal one for the terrain of Kerala as the vessel can carry up to 200 persons at a go and reach Kozhikode from Thiruvananthapuram in two hours. Further, as per the briefing and presentation of the Chinese delegation, the smaller version of the vessel can be pressed into service for disaster management purposes like Ockhi, he said.

Lijo Jose, manager administration and business development, Global Maritime Consultants Group, who introduced the project to the state government, said unlike the seaplane and hydrofoil services, the WIG vessel is a new concept in passenger services. The technology of the vessel was sourced from Russia which has been using the technology in military sphere to avoid being detected in the radar of the enemy team.

Since the vessel requires only one-fourth of the aviation fuel required for an aircraft, the cost of the service would also be less when compared with the flight ticket rates. Further, the vessel does not require major infrastructure spending as the WIG craft can take off and land without major hi-tech port facilities, airstrips or stations. The WIG has an operational advantage than seaplane as the craft can operate in severe rough weather conditions ranging from 4FT- 20FT of sea condition makes it a valuable and counted asset in disaster management scenarios, he said.

The Chinese firm is of the opinion that the state government can operate it as utility services like forming corporation such as KSRTC or a CIAL model company. The cost of the craft would come around Rs 15-18 crore for a 12 seater and price would be varying depending on the size of the vessel which opts. The delegation would soon hold a presentation to chief minister and invite the official here to China to see the facilities of the company and it functioning, said officials.

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