MV Campbell Bay Ship Sails from Port Blair, to Reach Visakhapatnam Port On May 3

Visakhapatnam: As the Covid-19 situation has returned to near-normal, the tourism industry is slowly limping back to normalcy. The passenger cargo ship MV Campbell Bay sailed from Port Blair on Saturday evening with 450 passengers on board. About 95 percent of passengers belong to northern Andhra Pradesh. The vessel is expected to anchor at Visakhapatnam port on the morning of May 3. 

After the outbreak of Coronavirus in India, the Shipping Corporation of India had suspended its operations for two years. Most of the passengers are migrant workers, who are working in various parts of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, returning to their hometowns during summer vacation. As the sea route is cost effective, the migrant workers mostly travel through ships. 

According to the ferry traffic manager Ratnakumar, the return journey of MV Campbell Bay from Visakhapatnam to Port Blair has already been finalized. The Campbell Bay ship will depart from Visakhapatnam on the evening of May 5, he said. 

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“The Campbell Bay vessel will reach Port Blair on May 8. As the shipping services have resumed, the tickets for Visakhapatnam to Port Blair return journey were sold out sooner than expected. The tickets for the 500-seater MV Campbell Bay were sold in just two days of the booking window,” the official added.  

The ferry service to the Andamans is very cheap as the flight from Visakhapatnam to the Andamans can cost up to Rs 10,000. However, the Andaman government divides the passengers into two categories - islander (local) and non-islander (non-local). The one-way economy ticket for an islander is Rs 1,250 while a tourist is charged Rs 3,375 for the same journey. However, there’s no cap on the luggage you carry onboard.