January 12, 2018 TnH Global

Get ready for a daily cruise ship that will ferry you from Mumbai to Goa in only 7 hours

Citizens of Mumbai have always longed for vacation spots located within stone’s throw and for all those citizens who love the former Portuguese colony of Goa on India’s western coastline, the Mumbai Trust Port (MbPT) has decided to launch a daily cruise from the port of Mumbai to Goa.

The service which was initially slated to start by the end of December ran into procedural roadblocks, mainly the need for trial runs. While the preparations for the trial run to begin from mid-January are currently underway, officials with the MbPT said that the service will incur rigorous preliminary probation prior to being opened to the public.

In a statement, the MbPT said that the trial runs are expected to conclude by the end of January this year after which the service that will reportedly ferry passengers from Mumbai to Goa in a matter of barely seven hours will begin operations.

Sanjay Bhatia, the chairman of MbPt spoke to the media. “The cruise ferry has already reached India and is anchored at Mumbai. We have all the required permissions and are waiting for the trial runs to be completed. Once it is operational, the liner will be anchored at the domestic cruise terminal, which is close to the ferry wharf at Mazgaon”, he said.

Union Minister for the Ministry of Shipping, Nitin Gadkari had in December of 2017 announced that such services will kick-start in December of the same year. At present, the port in Mumbai holds a capacity of merely 80 ships, however, it has the potential to play host to as many as 700 ships and 32 lakh passengers once it attains absolute overhaul.

Reports suggest that the Mumbai-Goa liner boasts of a capacity to ferry about 400 passengers in a single trip. While the cruise will cease operations for about four months owing to precautions during the monsoon seasons, the fare that revelers have to shell out in order to experience the cruise liner is yet to be revealed.

News Source: www.timesnownews.com