The Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation has requested a stoppage to sailing through the Male'-Villimale', Villimale'-Gulhifalhu and Gulhifalhu-Thilafushi channels due to the Thilamale' bridge construction.
As per an announcement that was made today by the Transport Ministry, construction work is being done on the Thilamale' bridge project, located at the three channels between Male' and Thilafushi.
The ministry stated that as work in the area continues, any sort of travel through the three channels is not safe, with the channels being closed off on 3rd March 2024 via a public announcement.
"As these three channels (Male'-Villimale', Villimale'-Gulhifalhu and Gulhifalhu-Thilafushi) have been closed off, we made a public announcement to cease travel through the area," as was said by the ministry in today's announcement as well.
It is unclear as to why the ministry made this announcement once more. There are videos circulating on social media where vessels are passing through the channels.
The Maldivian government stated in November 2025 that the Thilamale' Bridge, being built by India's Afcons company, will be 6.7km long, with 60 percent of the work having been finished. The piling work for the project has also been completed.
The Thilamale' Bridge, reportedly the largest urban project in the Male' region, is a project worth USD 500 million (MVR 7.7 billion). These amounts are reached through USD 400 million dollars given through line of credit from India's Exim Bank and a grant of USD 100 million dollars from the Government of India.
