PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry's lack of a cruise shipping policy has come in the way of granting permission to 'MV Empress' operated by Cordelia Cruise to anchor in the Puducherry's territorial waters and alight passengers by boats at Puducherry Port. The luxury cruise ship from Visakhapatnam sailed off the Puducherry coast on Friday -- without anchoring here-- to its destination, Chennai.
According to official sources, while the government did not reject the cruise liner's application, they have not approved it. This comes as the UT lacks a cruise shipping policy, an estimated rate to be levied, infrastructure and logistics at the Puducherry Port. The port has not handled cruise ships and infrastructure also needs to be put in place, added the official.
Puducherry also faced several difficulties as the Port has not been in use for some time. Now after desilting, the Port is ready to handle Cargo and boats once again. But cruise shipping is a different matter.
Meanwhile, there was no time to put logistics in place as the cruise operators applied late for approval. While an agent informally told port authorities in the first week of May, the application came in the third week of May for the ship’s arrival on June 10.
On receipt of the application, officials approached the Chennai Port for information on handling cruise ships, procedures, rates (charges for passengers, anchorage, tonnage, ferry charges for boats and others). They also inquired about checks for tourists who arrive at the Port and basic facilities (like a rest room or kiosk), explained the official.
While the ship has a casino, the cruise operators--in their application--stated that they will not operate it in territorial waters. But the question arises on how it could be monitored, said the official, adding that a proposal was moved to the government to take a decision in this regard.
The government is desirous of permitting cruise ships, but a policy should be put in place. “We will try to frame a cruise shipping policy in consultation with Port and Line department to attract cruise ships. The Ministry of Tourism has advised the government to promote cruise tourism, yacht marina and others," said Tourism Minister K Lakshminarayanan.
The cruise operators had planned to take passengers to visit the Ashram, beaches, art and craft village with the support from the Puducherry Tourism Development Corporation. In fact, around 460 people expressed their desire to visit Puducherry, though around 290 people booked tickets with the intention to visit the UT by paying the charges, reliable sources said. Puducherry lost valuable tourists, which the government had been eager to attract.
However, some sources doubt that approval was not granted due to political reasons with the cruise operated from Chennai and TN Chief Minister MK Stalin flagging it off on June 6. Chief Minister N Rangasamy kept the file pending, by neither granting approval nor rejecting it. Lt. Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan said that she did not get any files from the government pertaining to the anchor of the cruise ship, and also she will not permit anything which will spoil the UT's tradition. The AIADMK, a constituent of the NDA, objected to allowing the ship to anchor near the coast, and bringing tourists into Puducherry.