Shipping Corp of India (SCI) has sold an elderly passenger and cargoship that had spent most of its operational life serving India's island territories.
The 9,700-gt Harsha Vardhana (built 1974) was this week en route to Colombo in Sri Lanka, where it is to be handed over to a cash buyer for onward delivery to shipbreakers in Alang.
Several shipbrokers report that the ship was sold for $2.3m.
The 750-passenger vessel was originally built for SCI by Mazagon Dock for long-distance liner services from India to East Africa and Mauritius.
When these trades petered out in the late 1970s, the ship was switched to the domestic trade between Calcutta and the Andaman Islands.
It remained on this service until very recently, enjoying a very colourful career that included fires, passenger riots and the occasionally reported scrap sale.
SCI operates passenger and cargo services on behalf of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands Administration.
While the Harsha Vardhana was owned directly by SCI, other ships used in the service are owned directly by the administration but are operated and managed by SCI.
The Harsha Vardhana is effectively being replaced by the first of two 14,000-gt passenger/cargo ships being built for the administration by Cochin Shipyard, the first of which is scheduled for delivery next year. The second follows in 2020. Other vessels will cover for the Harsha Vardhana in the interim.
According to SCI sources, the administration is also preparing to sell the 9,500-gt passenger/general cargoship Akbar (built 1971) for recycling.
The ship has been laid up in Chennai for several years following the cancellation of an extensive reconditioning in favour of newbuildings.
