The Andhra Pradesh tourism department’s efforts to make Vizag a sea cruise tourism hub may not materialise soon, due to non-availability of a suitable place to develop a cruise terminal as of the available port area, only the present fishing harbour location is suitable. Though there was a proposal to shift the fishing harbour to Bheemili, it will at least take four years to do so.
Realising the potential, STAR cruise are approaching government for permission to start their cruise liners from Vizag to Port Blair; the tourism department plans to develop a cruise terminal at a cost of Rs.200 crore.
This cruise terminal will have a shopping mall, food courts, convention and business centre with first class amenities to attract foreign tourists too. “Though the waterfront at the Yerada Beach suits a terminal, backwaters there will not allow cruise liner vessels to be docked. There is a lot of pollution in the inner harbour. The fishing harbour is the ideal location with 12 feet draft depth to anchor the cruise, but the cruise terminal can come up only after the fishing harbour is shifted,” said Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) chairman Ajeya Kallam.
AMET Shipping which brought its cruise liner AMET Majesty to the city last August, also faced problems in berthing the vessel in the port.
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