Roll on – Roll off Transport

Roll on – Roll off Transport (RORO or ro-ro)

RoRo is a short form for ‘Roll-on, Roll-off’, which describes how products are loaded and discharged from a vessel. RoRo allows your products to roll on and off the vessel, as opposed to being lifted onboard using cranes. Self-propelled products, such as cars and tractors, roll on and off the vessel on their own wheels. Products that are not self-propelled are placed on handling equipment with wheels in the terminal to be rolled on and off the vessel. It is a service used to transport goods, vessels made to carry wheeled cargo (such as cars, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers, and railroad cars) from one place to another place through different modes (railways, waterways). This is in contrast to lift-on/lift-off (LoLo) vessels, which use a crane to load and unload cargo.

INDIA’s First RoRo Ferry Service:
Ro-Ro ferry service between Ghogha in Bhavnagar district and Dahej in Bharuch district in Gulf of Cambay in Gujarat , started on 22nd October 2017. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first phase of this project which was implemented by Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB). This project is the first of its kind in India as it was executed in the area of the world’s second-highest tidal range. This is both India’s and South Asia’s first world-class Ro-Ro service.
The first of its kind Ro-Ro ferry in India will be able to carry up to 100 vehicles and 250 passengers between the two ports. It will reduce the distance between Ghogha in Saurashtra and Dahej in South Gujarat from 310 kilometers by road to 30 kilometers. Besides, it will also reduce seven to eight hours of travel time to link Saurashtra with South Gujarat to one hour.
Unfortunately, the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) has suspended the ferry due to the unforeseen situation at Dahej port. Due to monsoon rainfall in those areas, water from the Narmada river has been increasing consistently in cusecs resulted in heavy unexpected siltation and makes water depth too low, which halted the navigation at Dhaej RO-RO terminal.
“Due to the non-availability of sufficient depth of water at Dahej, ferry services would remain suspended till now.”

SIGNIFICANCE:
The significance of Ro-Ro ferry service as follows:
• To promote an environment-friendly and cost-effective mode of transport.
• To save travel time and fuel, to reduce carbon emission and reduce pressure on congested roads.
• ‎To promote regional trade and business and prove to be a game-changer for the transportation of goods and passengers.
• ‎To provide at least one crore jobs in the next 4-5 years.
• ‎To boost the economy from the local level.
BENEFITS:
Ro-Ro services benefit transporters in several ways:
• Trucks save on wear and tear, maintenance and fuel costs as well as highway toll charges and toll gate delays.
• Loading a truck directly onto the wagon also saves time and labor costs that would otherwise be incurred on transshipment between trucks and trains.
• Truck crew fatigue is also greatly reduced, thus lowering the chances of accidents and delays.
• Cutting down on the use of road transport infrastructure
DISADVANTAGES:
• Roll-on-Roll-off Service goes off track due to technical hurdles.
• Lack for terminal infrastructure and less improvement of the groundwork.
• Lack of technicality to get rid of disaster, (nature is an unpredictable one, based on Monsoon it differs and led to flood which results in siltation).
• Very difficult to estimate (budget) by Government, (for instance, estimated ~ Rs 20 crore of maintenance dredging for the of the year 2019. But it’s been spent more than Rs 90 crore for the year and we are still spending…)
HISTORY:
RO-RO service is not new to the Indian Railways’ network.Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd (KRCL) has operated a Ro-Ro service since 1999 . As of now, KRCL operates Ro-Ro services between several points on the Konkan Railway route between Mumbai and Mangalore as well as to Karadmbelli in Gujarat via Western Railway. Konkan Railway Ro-Ro Services Completed 20 Years of operation.
On July 2017, on a trial basis, a Roll-On and Roll-Off (Ro-Ro) ferry service started between Dhubri and Hatsingmari National Waterway – 2 (On river Brahmaputra). This Ro-Ro service provides a direct link between Assam and Meghalaya avoiding the circuitous route of 220 km.
On 16th October 2018, Goa Maritime Symposium was organized “To strengthen friendly relations with maritime neighbors” hosted by the Indian Navy.
INLAND WATERWAYS AUTHORITY & Other Projects:
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) will be starting a new Roll on-Roll off (Ro-Ro) facility in collaboration with the Government of Assam to provide the much-needed connectivity for Majuli Island. This Ro-Ro facility will cut down the circuitous road route of 423 KMs that trucks take from Neamati to Majuli Island via Tezpur Road Bridge, by limiting the distance to only 12.7 KM with the use of river route.
The wheeled cargo includes cars, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers, and railroad cars.
Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) for capacity augmentation of navigation on National Waterway-1 (NW-1) is being implemented by the IWAI on the support of the World Bank. This Project is expected to be completed by March 2023.
As per the National Waterways Act, 2016, 111 waterways have been declared as NWs.
Goa Maritime Symposium 2018 focuses on, “Building Stronger Maritime Partnerships in IOR” capacity building among Indian Ocean Region (IOR) Navies to tackle emerging maritime threats, as well as discussing cooperative strategies for enhancing interoperability among partner maritime agencies and also will facilitate interaction in the Indian Ocean Region for sharing ideas on common issues of maritime interest.
The 16 Indian Ocean littoral countries participating in the Symposium include Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand from South East Asia; Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka from India’s immediate neighborhood; the island nations of Seychelles, Mauritius and Maldives; Oman in West Asia; and South Africa, Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique from Africa.
This will play a constructive role in bringing together stakeholders that have a role in evolving strategies, policies and implementation mechanisms in the maritime domain.
Further, it is aligned with the objective of ‘SAGAR’ (Security and Growth for All in the Region) of India which envisions enhanced engagement with countries beyond shores with the aim of building greater trust and promoting respect for maritime rules, norms and peaceful resolution of disputes.

TREASURE TROVE:

1. Water Transport aims to create for the shippers and logistic players, an alternative to the two dominant modes of transport viz. road and rail.
2. In India RO-RO Ferry service under the Union Ministry of Railways and Shipping.
3. Two ferries used in India— Island Jade and Voyage Symphony.


4. Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is a statutory body and established in 1986 and It is headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
5. Its aim for development and regulation of inland waterways for shipping and navigation and its main function is to build necessary infrastructure in inland waterways, surveying economic feasibility of new projects and also carrying out administration and regulation.
6. Ro-Ro ferry is a small part of Sagarmala project of Central Government that aims to promote port-led development in the country by covering India’s 7,500-km long coastline, 14,500-km of potentially navigable waterways and strategic location on key International Maritime Trade routes.
7. Western Railway also launched a Ro-Ro service between Karambeli in Gujarat and KRCL’s network in late 2018. Starting from a single rake in 1999, KRCL operates six Ro-Ro rakes today. However, KRCL is now facing a decline in Ro-Ro revenues due to tough competition from an improved road network and cheaper maritime services.
8. Elsewhere in the shipping industry, cargo is normally measured by the metric tonne, but RORO cargo is typically measured in lanes in metres (LIMs).
9. The RORO passenger ferry with the greatest car-carrying capacity is Ulysses (named after a novel by James Joyce), owned by Irish Ferries. When launched (September 2002) she was the world’s largest car ferry in terms of vehicle capacity.
10. On 2 January 2018, Irish Continental Group (ICG) announced that they had entered into an agreement with Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft & Co.KG (“FSG”) whereby the German yard will build a new ferry for the Dublin – Holyhead service at a contract price of €165.2m. Upon completion, like Ulysses was, the new ship will be the largest cruise ferry in the world in terms of vehicle capacity. According to ICG, the new vessel will offer a 50% increase in peak capacity over Ulysses, with capacity for 330 freight units or 1,500 cars and 1800 passengers and crew.
11. RoRo train-ferries were very useful over conventional shipping in World War 1. It was much easier to move the large, heavy artillery and tanks that this kind of modern warfare required using train-ferries as opposed to repeated loading and unloading of cargo. By manufacturers loading tanks, guns and other heavy items for shipping to the front directly on to railway wagons, which could be shunted on to a train-ferry in England and then shunted directly on to the French Railway Network, with direct connections to the Front Lines, many man hours of unnecessary labor were avoided.

MAJULI ISLAND:

1. Majuli is the biggest inhabited riverine islands in the world located in the river Brahmaputra.
2.It is India’s First island district . It has 144 villages with a population of over 1,50,000. Languages spoken are Mising, Assamese, and Deori.
3. Majuli was once 1200 square kilometres but due to excessive erosion has shrunk to under 500 square kilometres.
4. It was formed due to course changes by the river Brahmaputra and its tributaries, mainly the Lohit. Mājuli is the abode of the Assamese neo-Vaishnavite culture. It has many ‘Sattras’ (religious and cultural institutions).

5. Majuli is currently listed as the world’s largest river island in the Guinness Book of World Records.
6. It has been included in the tentative list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

READ MORE INFO:
https://pib.gov.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=171853
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/rajkot/ro-ro-ferry-suspended-due-to-siltation-at-dahej/articleshow/71266440.cms
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/gujarat-ferry-pm-modi-rode-for-ro-ro-launch-is-up-for-sale-6147570/