Opportunity.

Industry- Inland marine transportation Opportunity- Hovercraft ferry service connecting various ports of Gujarat like Ghogha(Bhavnagar ) to surat, Mandvi to Okha and Jamnagar, Ghogha to Dahej etc etc and inter connection between each of them. Water based transport is effective as generally speaking, operating costs of fuel are low and environmental pollution is lower than for corresponding volumes of movement by road, rail or air. A major advantage is that the main infrastructure the waterway is often naturally available, which then has to be trained, maintained and upgraded. Transport over w

Background about Marine Inland transportation. Gujarat is having one of the largest sea coast line ~1600 kms in India. The inland road ways though very developed takes time say for example if one has to travel from Mandvi in Kucth region to Okha in Saushtra it takes 10 hours plus to reach, where as if there is a ferry service of Hovercraft it will take hardly 1.5 hours to reach, plus it is more convenient travel. Parameters of Hovercraft ferry services. Reliability and convenience. Travel time vis-a-vis the alternate land based route: While time by land routes is generally reducing, with more and more bridges being constructed, it is still sometimes quite viable and direct to have ferry based services in many parts. Faster ferries and launches are a possibility to encourage traffic on this node. Cost: As this service is environment friendly as it carries more passengers and consumes less fuel, the cost of servicing end user is very less and hence is an attractive alternative to go for.

Interchange convenience: The waterway movement should be able to move seamlessly to other modes, eg bus and train. Credibility- The credibility of the service will be quite high as such service once well designed is very speedy as it takes one tenth of the required time and is quite reliable hence this will be a very credible option for passengers at the same time it will reduce the burden on road and rail transport systems. Design of services Distinct Types of Ferry Service Mixed auto-passenger Passenger-only Water taxies Route Types Crossing bodies of water Island service Parallel to shoreline Two-stop routes Multi-stop routes Process Parameters

For marine operation, a hovercraft typically must be registered as a boat. It must comply with the maritime board regulations for boating: 1. A life preserver must be available on board for each occupant of the craft. 2. The hovercraft must have enough positive buoyancy to remain afloat even if it becomes totally swamped. 3. Night time lighting equipment is required for craft operating at night or more than one mile from shore during the day in enclosed waterways (bays, rivers, etc.) 4. In open waterways, night time lighting is required regardless of the distance from shore. 5. An approved fire extinguisher should be on board. 6. Fuel system requirements for the engine and fuel tank(s) must be met. 7. A Hull Identification Number (HIN) must be visibly in place. 8. Maximum weight ratings must be posted in sight on the craft.

Technological and physical viability Water flow: The basic prerequisite for water based transport is the availability of water flow. In the main waterways, this may have decreased over the years because of increased usage arising from habitation, industrial and agricultural needs. The extent of regular flow may also have decreased because of the impact of dams on river streams.

Commercial potential

From a supply chain perspective, the main reason for using inland waterways as a mode of transport is the fact that it decreases the total cost, when used as part of the end to end logistical requirement of cargo movement. Geographical advantage of water bridging: This is strongest when the movement is across the river, but can be present in some other movements. Examples of these are passenger ferry services across rivers and transport in the Sundarbans areas in India and Bangladesh.

Service requirements: The basic requirement of freight demand is physical handling from door to door. In the case of IWT, this involves movement to and from the water mode, including the loading and unloading of material on to and from the vessel and proper storage of the material on docks and in the vessel. Operational viability Costs: IWT is a capital intensive industry, even for operators, as significant investment is required in vessels, for a start. Investments required to provide and maintain the waterway and terminals are of an even higher scale and come under the heading of infrastructure. With the opening up of privatisation there is all the more scope of this service. Operating costs can be categorized as below. Vehicle costs Fuel costs Crew costs Maintenance costs Loading Unloading costs Besides these, there are costs to do with contingencies like running aground and damage to vessels. These are not rare, under current operating conditions of insufficient draft, even in the National Waterways Fleet planning Planning of hovercraft fleet is based on lower freight cost for the customer and convenience of the same in ferrying the same in inland waterways and disembarking at various ports. Staffing: Crew Members those who have received training as per Govt. Norms. Front end Booking Staff Customer service desk. Scheduling: Two types of schedules are possible in transport operations. Fixed schedule movements (which provide for more certainty for customers, makes vehicle deployment easy and where operational costs are more controlled) and variable schedules (which provide for more responsiveness and can reduce unremunerative runs). Target Audience: Customers those who are in shipping and related industries and also travelers as they can avail the service. Main requirements of these customers are (i) Technical suitability (ii) Timely commuting (iii) Customer support

Need

These customers need to commute between different ports and destination and at times road transport is inconvenient and time consuming. Hovercraft service will be very suitable and convenient at the same time cost effective and time saving which is much needed by customer. What are they using currently? Currently customers have two options (i) Road Transport (ii) Rail Transport Other means of transport is either not available or is not suitable also at time rail transport is not available for all routes and has very less frequency. (iii) (vii) Encounter-1 (iv) To get necessary certificate(viii) from Maritime board and other statutory bodies. Encounter-2 To create necessary infrastructure (v) Encounter-3 (ix) To book port terminals and frond end and back end staff desk.

(vi)

Legal Requirements

(x) People

(xi)

To recruit and train skilled (xii) work force. To design processes to work with customers (xvi)

(xiv)

Processes

(xv)

(xvii)

Go to Market (xviii) To formulate strategy for (xix) entering into new market

To get external (xiii) workforce who can work as change agents To improve process based on customer feedback. Tie up with experienced agency to enter into market

To create required competency to work with external world

(xx)

customer service

(xxi)

To create separate (xxii) customer service cell that can understand customers needs and can develop relations with them

To create separate cell(xxiii) Provide online booking for meeting customers facilities and attractive and getting them use packages to customers. the ferry service.