Waterways in Port Blair

Due to the unique geographic position of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal, both the residents and the tourists have to depend mainly on waterways to reach Port Blair and travel in and around the islands. Most of the tourists prefer ships to reach A & N Islands, as the fare is very low, while comparing to that of flights. The increasing demand of waterway transportation due to the growth of tourism in the islands makes the Directorate of Shipping Services in Port Blair and the Shipping Corporation of India Ltd start more mainland shipping services and inter-island ferry services.

Government Shipping Services to Port Blair 

There are regular passenger ships to Port Blair from important destinations in India such as Kolkatta, Chennai and Visakhapatnam and back. You can get three to four sailings in every month from Chennai and Kolkata to Port Blair and vice-versa, while there is one sailing from Visakhapatnam to Port Blair in a month. The ships reach Port Blair in around 50 to 60 hours and halt there for about two to four days.

Tickets can be booked at Ship Ticketing Advance Reservation System (STARS) counters of the Directorate of Shipping Service, Andaman and Nicobar Administration at Port Blair, Chennai, Mayabunder, Diglipur, Havelock, Car Nicobar, Hutbay, Campbell Bay, Rangat and Nancowry. You get tickets for any of the vessels in any scheduled sailing from here. The STARS network at Kolkata is located in the Shipping Corporation of India Office and people can purchase tickets from here. The travellers should submit a requisition form to book the tickets and keep the identity proof with them at the time of boarding of the vessel. As Vizag-Port Blair sector in Visaghapatnam is not under STARS network, SCI issues tickets from Vizag through a ticketing agent namely M/s AV Bhanojirow Garuda.

The Mainland ships that conduct services to and from Port Blair are M.V Swaraj Dweep, M.V Nicobar, M.V Nancowry, M.V Harshavardhana and M.V Akbar that have different accommodation classes such as Deluxe, 1st Class Cabin, 2nd class ‘A’ Cabin, 2nd class ‘B’ Cabin, Bunk. Each of these classes has separate charges that are different for Islanders and tourists. While the ships charge Rs 720 to 1,880 for bunk classes, the charge for Deluxe is Rs 4,350 to Rs 8,420.

Government Inter-Island Services

The Directorate of Shipping Services, A & N Administration operates ferry services in the inter-island from Phoenix Bay Jetty, Port Blair. These regular services connect all populated tourist places located in different islands. The ferry services of A & N Administration are the main transport means of tourists.

The Directorate also conducts vehicle ferries at main locations and several harbour ferries. You get the details of daily scheduling of the ferries from Government newspaper; ‘The Daily Telegrams’ four days in advance and from All India Radio or Doordarshan. The information is also available in official website www.and.nic.in. The tickets for Inter-Island ferry services are also available from STARS counters, controlled by Directorate of Shipping Services, four days in advance.

Government Ferries from Port Blair to Havelock

As Havelock is the most important tourist location that is visited my numbers of people every day, the Direcotre of Shipping Services operates ferries from Phoenix Bay Jetty, Port Blair to Havelock Island twice daily. While the normal ferries carrying cargo and passengers require nearly four hours to reach Havelock, the speed boats need only two hours.

Address of Shipping services

The Directorate of Shipping services
Address: A & N Administration, Phoenix Bay Jetty, Port Blair
Phone: 03192 232528, 232742
Fax: 03192 230480

Shipping Corporation of India Ltd
Address: Shipping House, No. 13, Strand Road, Kolkata, 700 001
Phone: 033 2482354, 2488013
Fax: 033 2482035, 2480377

The Asst. Director of Shipping Services
Address: A & N Administration, 6, Rajaji Salai, Chennai, 600 001
Phone: 044 25220841
Fax: 044 25226873

M/s A.V Bhanojirao and Garuda Pattabhiramayya & Co
Address: Post Box No.17, Visakhapatnam (Agent- Shipping Corporation of India Ltd)
Phone: 0891 2565597
Fax: 0891 566507, 2549224

Private Inter-Island ferry services
Apart from the Inter-Island ferry services of Directorate of Shipping Services, there are some private tourists boats that operates from Aberdeen Jetty (Andaman Water Sports Complex) to nearby popular tourist destinations including North Bay, Ross Island and Harbor cruise etc. Other private tourist boat services are from Wandoor to Jolly Bouy/ Redskin Islands.

Private Inter-Island luxury Cruise vessel
M/s MAK Logistics, Port Blair is the major private initiative that operates passenger shipping service in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It comes up with a luxury passenger day cruise namely M.V Makruzz that connects Port Blair and Havelock, which is the most famous tourist circuit in Andamans. The cruise has a capacity of accommodating 280 passengers and an air-conditioned Catamaran. It with a speed of 27 nautical miles per hour reaches to Havelock from Port Blair in around 90 minutes. It starts daily at 8:30 AM from Port Blair and returns at 4 PM from Havelock. The fares for a journey in M.V Markuzz are Rs 1000 for Royal Class, Rs 750 for Deluxe Class and Rs 650 for Premium class. Tickets can be reserved online through tour operators, travel agents or hoteliers in Port Blair.

Phone: 03192 212355, 236677
Email: mvmakruzz@gmail.com
Website: www.makruzz.com