Visakhapatnam: Cruise Terminal gets ready for operation

Visakhapatnam: With a capacity of 2,000 passengers, the much-awaited Visakhapatnam International Cruise Terminal is all set to be inaugurated in a day.

Developed with an investment of Rs.96.05 crore, the facility is scheduled to be inaugurated by Minister for Ports, Shipping, Waterways and Ayush Sarbananda Sonowal along with three other projects of the Visakhapatnam Port Authority.

They include a covered storage shed built at a cost of Rs.33.80 crore at R-11 area with a storage capacity of 84,000 tonnes of bulk and bagged cargo. “It also has a mist arrangement for dust suppression and the idea is to bring down pollution for storing dusty cargo,” reasoned VPA Chairperson Madhaiyaan Angamuthu.

Elaborating about cruise tourism, the VPA Chairperson added that it has a huge potential in India and has a greater scope to grow at a CAGR of 12.1 percent for the next decade from the current estimated market size of US$7.1 billion. “With the world class port facilities coupled with an attractive tariff, VPA is also considering the possibility of providing discounts for the cruise,” Angamuthu explained.

As the cruise industry across the globe is supporting 1.17 million jobs in allied sectors such as hospitality, aviation, agriculture, retail, entertainment and healthcare, the VPA chairperson said India and Andhra Pradesh will also largely benefit from the cruise tourism.

After the completion of the revamping exercise of OR I with a capacity addition of 3.81 MMT which is ready to become operational, the port has taken up OR II and OR III upgradation work which is scheduled to be completed by next October. The other facility that will be launched next is the truck parking terminal developed in 20 acres with an investment of Rs.36.05 crore. The truck parking terminal can accommodate 666 vehicles and has a 100-bedded dormitory, petty shops, spare shops, fuel station, etc.