Union Minister launches Hazira to Diu cruise service

In a lift to the ocean tourism in Gujarat, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya nearly flagged off cruise companies from Essar bulk terminal at Hazira in Surat to Diu, a union territory on the Saurashtra coast, on Wednesday.
The improvement of cruise tourism, Mandaviya mentioned, has been the prime focus of the Narendra Modi authorities on the Centre.
“We are working in the direction to develop coastal connectivity of Mumbai with Surat and Saurashtra, via ferry services, RoPax services and cruise services, so that many people are benefitted… The development of cruise tourism has been the prime focus of central government under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he mentioned.
Before 2014, the Minister mentioned, there have been round 1.07 lakh cruise passengers per 12 months in India. The variety of passengers travelling on cruise elevated to 4.63 lakhs per 12 months in 2019-20, he mentioned.
“Indians visit England, Singapore, Bangkok and other countries and enjoy cruise travel. Why cannot we attract foreign tourists in terms of cruise tourism then,” the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ports, Shipping and Waterways mentioned.
The cruise service, Jai Sofia Mumbai Maiden, has been offered by a non-profit initiative by Mumbai’s SSR Marines.
Jai Sofia ‘Mumbai Maiden’ proprietor Sanjiv Agrawal mentioned, “We were running a cruise service from Surat to Mumbai around a year back but due to the pandemic it has been stopped. Once the situation is normal, we will resume it again. The Hazira to Diu, cruise services will run two days a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays. The cruise will start in the evening and reach its destination on the next morning, thus completing its journey in around 13-14 hours.”
The cruise has been up to date with all facilities, plush interiors and might carry 300 passengers at a time.
Highlighting that the cruise service will present a “better alternative” to folks travelling from Surat to Saurashtra, Mandaviya mentioned, “We want to make Surat a water transportation hub. We are also setting infrastructure for RoPax ferry services in Mumbai. Such infrastructure is already there in Surat, and we are also extending it to Saurashtra. By interlinking all these coastal lines, we wanted to connect Mumbai, Surat and Saurashtra and give a boost to industrial development. We are also promoting private sector players and are ready to provide all necessary support.”
The Minister mentioned six worldwide cruise terminals had been being developed throughout the nation. “The work on international cruise terminals in Mumbai and Goa is in progress. One month ago, our PM inaugurated an international cruise terminal in Cochin. We are planning to develop international cruise terminals in the eastern coastal areas, like Vishakhapatnam, Chennai and Kolkata. Through the seaways, the distance gets reduced… Earlier, if a person wanted to travel from Old Mumbai to New Mumbai, he or she has to spend around 4 hours, but if take the ferry services, it will take around 20 minutes,” Mandaviya added.

He mentioned that Gujarat has the longest coastal line and Saurashtra is house to a number of industries. “The cargo of these industries reaches Southern India and Mumbai and have to cross the Gulf of Cambay. Today, 25 lakh people from Saurashtra have shifted to Surat for their livelihood. Daily 5,000 buses ply between Saurashtra and Surat via the Gulf of Cambay. Modiji, when he was the Gujarat chief minister, had the vision to reduce the distance and thus the Ghogha Dahej Ferry service was flagged off by him. But due to some technical reasons, it was stopped. Around 21 weeks ago, Modiji virtually flagged off ferry services from Hazira to Ghogha, which is operational and to date over 1 lakh passengers have travelled… This Ropex service has reduced the distance between Saurashtra and Surat.”
Mandaviya additionally requested SSR Marines proprietor to roll out ferry companies from Surat to Ghogha as there may be additionally good potential for passengers. “In the coming time, we are planning to connect Surat with Pipavav, Dwarka, and Somnath, and this will help lakhs of people hailing from Gir Somnath and Junagadh, etc, staying in Surat city, as their travel time will be reduced through a sea-route journey,” Mandaviya added.

Under the Maritime Vision 2030, the federal government was aiming to have greater than 350 cruise ships and over 3,000 cruise calls per 12 months and a minimum of three cruise coaching academies and 5 million cruise passengers. “The passenger ferry service has seen a giant leap with the development of Hazira as a cruise tourism hub. This will also open up many opportunities for the tourism sector of Gujarat as well,” he added.
Prashant Ruia, director of Essar Capital mentioned since its inception, Essar has been concerned within the improvement of the Indian Maritime sector and it continued to take action. “We are delighted with this launch as the project is aligned to the Maritime India Vision 2030 of Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and paves way for accelerated growth of India’s Maritime Sector,” Ruia mentioned.