M V N Raj TPN 241 left for Colombo from the old port here carrying goods including onion, potato, corn, and turmeric, officials said.
It would take about 24 hours for a vessel to reach Colombo, about 150 nautical miles from the port here, they said.
Private cargo shipping service between India and Sri Lanka was stopped in the 1980s (rpt) 1980s due to ethnic war in Sri Lanka.
Cargo shipping service between Tuticorin and Maldives is already in operation.