From next year, people from Chennai can embark on cruises to Singapore and Maldives.
On Thursday, Chennai Port Authority signed an MoU with Littoral Cruises Limited to this effect. Under the agreement, the cruise ship will sail on the Chennai-Trincomalee-Colombo-Maldives and Chennai-Visakhapatnam-Singapore sectors, with plans to operate two bigger vessels (800 / 1,200 passenger capacity). It also will operate two luxury boats with 22/30 passenger capacity.
Considered to be one of the preferred ports for international cruises because of the presence of United Nations heritage sites, Chennai received more than 90,000 tourists in 2022-23. Sunil Paliwal, chairperson, of Chennai Port Authority, thanked Littoral Cruises Limited for choosing Chennai as one of its circuit routes and wished the company well.
The first-ever luxury cruise line from the state sailed from Chennai after Chief Minister M K Stalin inaugurated the Empress, India’s premium cruise last year.
The Centre has planned to make Chennai the hub for cruise tourism on the East Coast, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal had said earlier.