Mumbai-Panaji cruise service to start early next month

Come December people travelling between Mumbai and Panaji will get some reprieve from the congested road and rail traffic and get to enjoy the open wilderness of the seas, but in close proximity with the beautiful Konkan coast.

Cruise line services between Goa and Mumbai will begin by the first week of December, 13 years after the ferry service between Mumbai and Goa stopped operating in 2004, union minister of shipping Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday.

The vessels would stop at Vengurla, Malvan and Ratnagiri among other places to embark and disembark passengers who would arrive in large hand-towed canoes.

The minister also said, hotels and other tourist facilities have been requested to construct floating jetties to facilitate ferrying tourists to their resorts.

"While cruise lines will reduce pollution, tourists will enjoy the experience (of travelling by inland waterways)," Gadkari said, adding that if the project proved successful, more waterways for ferry services would be developed.

Addressing the media after chairing a two-day review meeting with all organisations of the ministry of shipping at a South Goa resort, the minster also said the feasibility of an airport-to-airport connectivity between Mopa and Dabolim through inland waterways is also being explored.

The hotel industry, however, did not seem to be very enthusiastic about the idea of water transport, saying cost and time are important  factors for the choice of any mode of transport.

A catamaran service was started by Damania Shipping in 1994 between Mumbai and Goa, using a Scandinavian-built vessel, with aeroplane-style reclining seats. The trip from Mumbai used to take seven hours to reach Panaji. The catamaran too, travelled around 40 km offshore, giving travellers a glimpse of the palm-fringed Konkan coast.

Since 2004, the sea route between Goa-Mumbai was discontinued.  In the review meeting, for the first time, a separate session with Public Private Partnership (PPP) operators and other stakeholders was held to obtain feedback, to fast-track the implementation of projects and to restart the stalled projects.

Twelve major ports and Cochin Shipyard Limited, Shipping Corporation of India, Dredging Corporation of India, Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships, Inland Waterways Authority of India, DG Shipping, Tariff Authority for Major Ports, Indian Port Rail Corporation Ltd and Indian Ports Association took part in the meeting.