The decision of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways to extend the relaxed tariff for cruise ships at Indian ports for another year has brought cheer to the cruise tourism sector. Welcoming the tariff relaxation, the shipping fraternity and stakeholders in the tourism sector say that it would help attract more cruise vessels to Cochin Port.

The Ministry has extended the rationalised tariff for cruise vessels as part of providing support to cruise shipping business which was adversely affected during the pandemic. It was decided to continue the ongoing rationalisation of tariff for cruise vessels further for one more season till September 30, 2023.

Cruise calls

P Gautam Gupta, Advisor, Cochin Port Authority said the tourism stakeholders of Kerala have reasons to cheer as the first foreign cruise ship Europa 2 is all set to call at Cochin on November 29. There were no foreign cruise ships during the last two seasons due to pandemic. As of now, 16 foreign cruise ships have confirmed their calls at Cochin during the current season.

Apart from these, there will be 10 domestic cruise calls. For the next season, the port has got confirmation for 11 foreign and 5 domestic cruise calls. The numbers are expected to go up by the time the current season ends. The ₹25 crore Sagarika Cruise Terminal will be hosting the first foreign cruise ship when Europa 2 docks.

Charges

The vessel related charges for cruise vessels, which were rationalised in the wake of the pandemic will continue for this season also. However, there will be a marginal increase in the passenger fee(increased from $5 to $6 per passenger). The decision to continue with the rationalised vessel related charges has been well received by the cruise vessel operators. It is expected that this will in turn encourage them to plan for more ship calls at Cochin. This, in turn, will benefit the whole spectrum of the stakeholders associated with cruise business, he said.

The ranging urge of revenge tourism, after being restricted during Covid times, is reflected in the spike in number of domestic tourists. During the previous season, from September 2021 to May 2022, there were 25,6,77 domestic tourists visited Cochin Port in 14 ship calls, he said. 

Cruise vessels

A senior official in a leading shipping agency handling cruise vessels said, “We are expecting mostly mid-sized ships in the current season with a passenger capacity of 500-1200 persons. It will take some more time for bigger sized vessels to call the port as many such ships during the pandemic times were either laid up or some are even scrapped”.

Stakeholders in the industry pointed out that Cochin Port had received around 50 cruise calls per season in the pre-Covid season. Besides, coastal cruise vessel Cordelia has confirmed 14 visits to Cochin Port during the season.

According to the government notification, a 40 percent discount for cruise vessels will continue till September 30, 2023. The port will charge $0.085 per gross registered tonnage (GRT) for cruise ships for the first 12 hours stay. Head tax per passenger will be $6. Charges like berth hire, port dues, pilotage and passenger fee have been waived.

For a stay exceeding 12 hours, the fixed charges will be equal to the berth hire charges. Further cruise ships making 50 to 74 calls per year will get a 10 per cent discount. The relaxation charges will be 15 per cent for 75 to 100 calls. If the number of visits is more than 100, the discount will be 20 per cent.

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