Colombo:
Ferry service has resumed between Sri Lanka and India after being halted for more than 25 years because of the island's civil war, an official said Tuesday.
The Soctia Prince with a capacity of 1,044 passengers reached Colombo on Tuesday morning from the southern Indian port of Tuticorin, said W. Chandradasa, a director of Sri Lanka's Shipping Corp.
The ferry will initially operate twice a week, with the journey taking about 10 hours each way, he said.
Another vessel will be added soon, Chandradasa said.
An earlier ferry service between the south Indian town of Rameswaram and Sri Lanka's northwestern town of Talaimannar was stopped after Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict grew into a full-scale war in the 1980s.
In 2009, Sri Lankan government troops defeated Tamil Tiger rebels who were fighting for a separate homeland for ethnic Tamils.
Southern India is home to 60 million Tamils and has had close cultural and religious ties with Sri Lanka's Tamil minority for centuries.