News Desk
The Maldives has launched a new route under its Raajje Transport Link (RTL) ferry network, extending high‑speed public sea transport to another region of the archipelago. The service was formally inaugurated on Tuesday by Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Mohamed Ameen at a ceremony in Dhaalu Atoll Meedhoo, attended by the Indian High Commissioner, senior officials of the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC), and local residents.
The first week of travel on the new route will be free of charge.
RTL is the Maldives’ nationwide public ferry system, designed to provide reliable, scheduled, high‑speed transport across a country made up of more than a thousand islands scattered over 860 kilometres of ocean. In a nation where communities are separated not by roads but by channels and lagoons, ferries function as the backbone of daily life — connecting people from one island to the other.
The network uses modern, high‑speed vessels designed and built in the Maldives, equipped with air‑conditioning and operated by disciplined, professionally trained local crews. Running on fixed timetables, they offer a level of reliability and predictability that many island communities had never previously experienced. For a global audience, Maldives RTL is best understood as the maritime equivalent of a national bus or rail system — but stretched across one of the world’s most geographically fragmented countries.
The newly launched service joins a rapidly expanding system. RTL ferries are already operating in several regions, including Haa Alif, Haa Dhaalu, Shaviyani, Noonu, Lhaviyani, Laamu, and parts of the southern atolls. Each phase brings more islands into a unified transport grid, reducing travel times that once depended on irregular private boats or costly chartered services.
At Tuesday’s ceremony, Minister Ameen reiterated the government’s pledge — outlined in President Dr Mohamed Muizzu’s Presidential Address — to complete a nationwide high‑speed ferry network within the next six months.
“As part of our efforts to establish a high‑quality and reliable sea‑transport system, speed‑ferry services were launched in three atolls last year. The remaining eight atolls where the service has not yet been introduced will, God willing, be fully connected within the next six months.” President Dr Muizzu
The Maldives’ geography makes such investments essential. Its islands are small, low‑lying and widely dispersed, with many communities separated by long stretches of open sea. For decades, this isolation shaped everything from healthcare access to economic opportunity. A modern ferry system effectively turns the ocean into a network of public corridors, reducing the sense of distance between islands.
As Minister Ameen noted, the seas surrounding the Maldives “should not be barriers separating people, but connecting routes.”
RTL was first launched on 12 June 2022 under former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, beginning with pilot routes in the north. Since then, the system has grown into one of the most ambitious public transport projects undertaken by any small island nation.
