Visakhapatnam: Tourists can take a short cruise on the blue waters of the Visakhapatnam in November. AP Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) in collaboration with the Visakhapatnam Port is working to start a catamaran ship that will be operated between a starting point at the port and Kailasagiri covering about 10 kilometers as part of tourism services by AP government.
MS Class-6 catamaran vessel is arriving from Gujarat to implement the project on a pilot basis first. Once the demand picks up, the APTDC will go for increasing the number of ships. The 58-seater vessel can withstand all weather conditions at sea and is popular among tourist destinations around the world.
The APTDC has come up with this proposal to provide better recreational services to tourists who want a luxury vacation at sea. At present, there are no such large seater ships for tourists. The existing ships are either eight-seater or 12-seater. Moreover, these ships do not have any services on board and the trip at sea is less than 15 minutes and a short trip of less than a kilometre.
The APTDC will outsource the services to a Vizag-based private agency which will take care of commercial services including ticket sales, management etc. Eight per cent of the revenue generated from the agency's services is paid to the government by the APTDC, according to the basic service agreements.
Visakhapatnam collector A. Mallikarjuna also spoke to the Vizag Port authorities and obtained necessary clearances and basement for the ship in the port premises.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, APTDC executive director Srinivas Pani said that the catamaran ship service is inevitable, but they are waiting for some more necessary permissions and operational plans. He said that everything will be finalised in a few days and the details of the project will be announced by the collector soon.
“The ship is on its way from Gujarat to Visakhapatnam. It will take another 10 days to reach here. The project was supposed to start in the first week of November but was postponed to the following weeks due to the Prime Minister's visit to Vizag. We are also including plans for birthday parties on board. If the demand is good, we will also increase the number of ships,” Srinivas said.
