Visakhapatnam: Parking slot delay leaves cruise at sea

Visakhapatnam: It seems the Tourism Department gave permission without making proper arrangements at the port, like getting a place allotted for anchoring 'The Empress' of the Cordelia cruise liner. There are allegations that even proper facilities for passengers were not made at the terminal. Non-allotment of berth for the cruise led to one-hour delay in berthing on Wednesday

As a part of its itinerary, the cruise liner reached Visakhapatnam on Wednesdays and the ship was scheduled to sail back to Chennai from Vizag the same evening. It was supposed to be berthed at 7 am. Officials claim that the delay was on account of technical glitch but it seems the Tourism authorities did not make necessary advance arrangements.

Earlier, the Visakhapatnam Port Authority allotted EQ1 berth during the launch of the cruise. Later, the cruise was berthed at Visakhapatnam Container Terminal Private Limited (VCTPL), a build-operate-transfer (BOT) operator of the Visakhapatnam Port Authority, for shore excursion. But on Wednesday morning it had to wait for one hour for berthing at VCTPL. Some alleged that VPA had denied accommodating the cruise a berth. Even those who were not aware of the change in the berthing post the inaugural of the cruise liner also echoed similar opinions.

However, port officials claim that since the VCTPL is the BOT operator of the port, there is no question of denying the berth for the cruise. Earlier, the ship from Visakhapatnam scheduled on June 8 was denied permission for anchorage at Puducherry territorial waters due to policy and security reasons. Keeping this in view, some were under the impression that a similar issue was witnessed even in Visakhapatnam.