IPO-bound Waterways Leisure Ltd, which operates the Cordelia Cruises, plans to make Chennai its Home port as part of its expansion of cruise operations across the country.
Home port will be the base where the cruising will start and end, the company’s CEO & President, Jurgen Bailom, told newspersons on Wednesday at the sidelines of the ongoing India Maritime Week 2025.
At the event, the Mumbai-based cruise operator signed an MoU with the Chennai Port Authority for commitment and refurbishment of the cruise terminal, and make the terminal more modern and provide access to the port as well.
“At present, we are homeporting in Mumbai and adding Chennai, Kochi, Vizag and Goa. In the future, we will have ten ships from the present three, for which they need various ports to start and end the cruise and for turnaround throughout the year. Every year, one ship will come,” he said.
“By 2027, we will have two ships homeporting in Chennai and in 2028, it will be three ships. Each ship can hold around 2,500 passengers,” he said. “In the next five years, the company plans to take nearly 2 million passengers on its cruise ships,” he added.
On selecting Chennai as its Home port, Bailom said Chennai will be the gateway to go to places like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Andamans, Kolkata, Puri, Vizag and Puducherry. “We will add more destinations in Southeast Asia. When it happens, there will be permanently two or three ships stationed at Chennai,” he said. The Chennai Port has been a very good partner with the company, and was the first port in the country to develop a cruise terminal when cruise ships did not visit the port, he said.
“Our clients are Indians. Nearly 75 per cent of Indians have never been on ships and never experienced a cruise vacation. Cruising is an affordable luxury,” he said.
Listing
On the IPO, Bailom said, “We will be the first cruise company to be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange in two weeks.”
In June, it filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India to raise ₹727 crore through an IPO. The IPO with a face value of ₹10 is entirely a fresh issue of shares up to ₹727 crore with no offer for sale component.
