A passenger ferry operating between Kankesanthurai (KKS) in northern Sri Lanka and Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu was stranded at sea for several hours on Friday night after suffering an engine failure off the Indian coast, Newswire reported, citing Indian media accounts.
The vessel had departed Kankesanthurai at around 2.30 p.m. and was due to reach Nagapattinam in approximately four hours. It instead docked only at about 10.45 p.m. after running into rough seas and a mechanical fault, the report said.
The ferry, carrying 144 passengers, developed engine trouble near Kallar, around two nautical miles off the Nagapattinam coast, according to The Hindu. Indian authorities and local fishermen were deployed to assist before the vessel was slowly towed back to port. All passengers on board were reported safe.
The KKS–Nagapattinam route, which connects the Jaffna peninsula with the Tamil Nadu coast, was relaunched in recent years to strengthen passenger connectivity between Sri Lanka and India after a long suspension. The crossing — running roughly four hours each way in good conditions — has been promoted as a low-cost alternative to air travel between the two countries. Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha recently called for a bold reset on trade and Palk Strait connectivity, underscoring the diplomatic weight placed on improving sea links between the two countries.
Friday’s incident is the most serious operational disruption to the service since its revival. Operators have not commented publicly on what caused the engine failure or on plans for the next scheduled sailing.
