Wishing for a Cochin – Addu ferry connection: MP Ahmed Rasheed

Addu City, Maldives – MP for Hithadhoo central constituency Ahmed Rasheed (CheckMark Ahmed) has said that his wish now is for a scheduled transport mechanism to be put in place which connects Cochin – Addu – Africa.

In a tweet he posted with a maritime route late last night, he said that he wants this connection so that Addu becomes the hub for global trade.

Businessmen from Addu have always been advocating for a direct trade route from Addu to other countries for well over 50 years as how it was done in the early days where Addu people traded directly with neighboring countries to the west and north. As Addu is located in a strategically ideal location in the middle of the Indian Ocean, people have been strongly advocating to transform Addu in to a transport hub which can cater for both sea transport and air transport. MP Ahmed Rasheed is the latest politician to openly voice this out in public recently.

His tweet comes after the Cochin – Kulhudhuffushi – Male’ cargo ferry operations started this month with the first ship which arrived at Kulhudhuffushi last Saturday with 500 tonnes of cargo. This 3,000 metric tonne ship will be operating a continuous route between Cochin – Kulhudhuffushi – Male’ with 2-3 trips per month.

This agreement for Cochin – Kulhudhuffushi – Male’ cargo ferry was signed during the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official state trip to the Maldives after the current Maldivian president took office. Through this agreement, both cargo and passengers can be transported between the two countries and it is believed to boost the northern Maldivian regions economy as businesses can directly sell their products in the Indian markets or bring their cargo from Indian businesses through this service.