The Hindu Business Line : Luxury cruise vessel calls at New Mangalore Port

A luxury cruise vessel of Gibraltar nationality - c.s. Pacific Princess — called at New Mangalore Port on Wednesday. The vessel with 634 passengers and 384 crew on board started its journey from Phuket in Thailand. New Mangalore is the ship's first port of call in India.

An NMPT release said here that this vessel is the first cruise vessel arriving at New Mangalore Port during the cruise season of current financial year.

Most passengers, who are from the US, are in the age group of 50 to 80. Nearly 266 passengers went for a ground tour arranged by local tour operators. They visited Gomateshwara statue at Karkala in Udupi district; Soan's Farms and Thousand-Pillar Basadi at Moodbidri in Dakshina Kannada district, and Achal Industries, St Aloysius Chapel, Gokarnanatheshwara Temple and Summersands Resort at Ullal in Mangalore taluk.

The ship sailed in the evening and will call at Goa and then at Mumbai. The release said that these tourists will disembark at Mumbai and another group will embark from there and the journey will start again to Mangalore via Goa. The vessel is expected to call at NMP again on September 3 as its second voyage.

It may be mentioned here that the Union Shipping Ministry has taken a decision to create facilities for cruise shipping in five major ports, including New Mangalore. Following this, the New Mangalore Port has taken up the work on the construction of a cruise lounge at a cost of Rs 2.05 crore in the port premises. Cruise lounge is expected to be ready during the next season.

Four cruise vessels called at New Mangalore Port during 2005-06 as against eight during the previous fiscal.