Cruise to Diu: Cruise service amongst Surat’s Hazira Port and Diu flagged off! A cruise service amongst the Hazira Port in Gujarat’s Surat and the island of Diu was flagged off by Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Mansukh Mandaviya. It was launched on Wednesday by way of a video conference. The cruise would be operated from a ferry passenger terminal in Hazira, which is created by Essar Ports. Essar mentioned that the new cruise would transform the coastal transportation in the western coast of the nation, even though also providing the coastal tourism in Gujarat a big push.
During the launch, Union Minister Mandaviya mentioned that cruise tourism and its improvement has been amongst the top rated concentrate of the Centre. Giving some figures, he stated that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took helm of the workplace in 2014, India had about 1.07 lakh cruise passengers in a year, and by 2019-20, this quantity enhanced to 4.63 lakh passengers a year. Meanwhile, through this time, the cruise calls to Indian ports also rose from 139 to 445, he added.
He also shared the aim of Maritime Vision 2030, as per which, by 2030, the Centre hopes to have more than 350 cruise ships and more than 3 cruise education academies. Apart from this, the Centre is also hoping to have more than 3,000 annual cruise calls and 50 lakh annual cruise passengers by then.
The minister additional mentioned that Hazira has created as a cruise tourism hub, and with that, Gujarat tourism would also be benefitted.
The cruise-cum-passenger ferry that would run amongst Surat and Diu is referred to as JAI SOFIA ‘Mumbai Maiden’. It is a state-of-the-art ferry, which would be in a position to ferry 300 passengers in a single journey.
The Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, in a statement, mentioned that the cruise would final for about 13 to 14 hours on one side. The cruise vessel has 16 cabins to accommodate the passengers, and also has a gaming lounge, entertainment provision on the deck, and a VIP lounge amongst other facilities. The ferry would operate two round trips in a single week, and one side of the journey for one passenger would be Rs 900. However, this expense is only for entry. If passengers also want to avail cabin services, they would have to spend an more Rs 3,500, and an added Rs 3,000 would be charged for the VIP lounge, with taxes becoming added.