VISAKHAPATNAM: Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu will inaugurate the Passenger Jetty-cum-Cruise Terminal at Visakhapatnam Port on Friday. The long pending demand for the passenger jetty would be finally fulfilled as the port developed the slipway jetty near its Dry Docks for the cruise terminal to anchor cruise ships as part of the preparations for the ongoing International Fleet Review 2016.
According to sources at Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT), the slipway jetty has been modernised into a passenger jetty-cum-cruise terminal to facilitate the entry of delegates into the city, using boats from their navy ships anchored in the deep sea. “A 450-metre road is being constructed from the Beach Road to the slipway jetty, adjacent to the Fisheries Survey of India office,” said a senior officer of the VPT. The area has been developed such that it could be converted into a cruise terminal to operate cruise ships after the IFR.
The Indian Navy has erected a glass house to provide a view point of the city and the sea besides a restaurant, for the dignitaries visiting the city on the occasion of the IFR celebrations. The VPT has decided to utilise the developed area for full-fledged tourism activities, as per the instructions of the Chief Minister.
It is also proposed to construct jetties at Bheemili, Yarada, Mangamaripeta, Muthyalampalem, Pudimadaka and Revupolavaram at a cost of `10 crore each from the Central government.
The slipway jetty with a length of about 100 metre in the Fishing Harbour area, has a designed depth of 4 metre, which can accommodate crafts of 70-metre length over all, beam 14 metre and draft 5 metre or two crafts of 40-m length, or three crafts of 25-m length carrying about 200 passengers. The jetty and its surroundings have been upgraded and beautified providing separate access, viewpoint, landscaping and other amenities at a cost of `4 crore.