The Hindu Business Line : NMPT cruise terminal to be ready soon

Coimbatore, Dec. 20 The Cruise Terminal at the New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) is expected to be ready in a month’s time, the Chairman, Mr P. Tamilvanan, said.

Speaking at a seminar on ‘Port Infrastructure Development and Indian Economy’, organised by the Department of International Business, PSG College of Arts and Science here, he said the Cruise Terminal is proposed to cater to the needs of the tourists. The investment on this terminal is said to be close to Rs 3 crore.

He later told Business Line that the arrival of tourists at ports was increasing and was evident from the cruise liners that called at NMPT.

“It has risen from 2 or 3 vessels a couple of years ago to 18 last year.”

Most of the cruise liners are from Europe and on world trips. The new terminal and the plaza would give a boost to the cruise tourism industry along the western coast, Mr Tamilvanan said.

On traffic, he said NMPT handled 32.04 million tonnes last year and the traffic was expected to grow at an average rate of 13 per cent year-on-year.

To handle higher volumes, NMPT is contemplating adding 3 berths to its existing 13. Each of these would be able to process 3 million tonnes, according to Mr Tamilvanan. The capacity projection for 2012 has been fixed at 60.5 million tonnes against the existing 41.30 million tonnes.

The port has achieved a record growth in rail-bound traffic from 2.1 lakh tonnes in 2001-02 to over 41 lakh tonnes two days ago.