THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Vizhinjam may have a long wait before she becomes a choice port of call for Queen Mary II or Oasis of the Seas, but cruise liners aren’t exactly snubbing this ancient port of the Ay kings either. Seven ‘visits’ - rather than ships - have been confirmed thus far this tourism season, and the first liner dropped anchor last Friday. Since the port was too small for her, Spirit of Adventure off-loaded her passengers into small boats some way out, and they were promptly lapped up by waiting AC coaches. For a small, though ambitious, port like Vizhinjam, medium-sized liners like ‘Spirit’ - she had 333 passengers and 201 crew - remain biggies. Only two more liners have confirmed their arrival in the tourism months ahead, but one of them plans to call five times while shuttling between the bigger, slicker ports up north and south. By March, Le Ponant, a medium-sized cruise liner, plans to become a familiar name at the small fishing township. The French-registered vessel will make an appearance at the small local port five times between January and March, said port officials.Le Ponant’s first visit is tentatively scheduled for December 23. She will visit again on January 2, arriving straight from Mangalore and leaving for Kochi the same evening. Four days later, she will stop on her way to Maldives. On March 8, Le Ponant will have a stop-over here on a Maldives-Kochi trip. Her final appearance will be on March 12. On April 23, L’Austral is scheduled to arrive at Vizhinjam on a stop-over during a Colombo-Kochi cruise, a Vizhinjam port official said. “So far, we have received confirmation regarding these vessels only,” the official said. Liners never stay more than 12-18 hours, but in between, the passengers will have ample time to tour places like the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, the Kuthiramalika or even the Padmanabhapuram Palace in neighbouring Kanyakumari district. According to GAC Shipping India, the agents for all three ships, the number of liners calling at Vizhinjam have not increased substantially or dipped compared to past years. 'Last year also we’ve had more or less the same number,’’ said GAC manager Shankar. Nearly all of the vessels that call at Vizhinjam are small or, at best, medium-sized. The port has two wharves, of which only one - the older one - is ‘customs declared’.This wharf has a depth of merely 4.5 metres, and the new wharf has a depth of 6.5 metres. For the really big liners - the giant floating palaces that wander the earth’s oceans - to make it a regular port of call, the multi-crore Vizhinjam multi-purpose seaport project will have to become a reality. Being a small port with scant facilities has its blessings as well as disadvantages. The advantage being ships calling here have to pay a lot less compared to what they pay at Kochi in terms of port charges, security or berth hire.Pilotage is nil.Then there is the flip side. ‘’The passengers who arrive on such liners are generally elderly people. Their health is a crucial factor,” said Santhosh Kumar, president of the Cochin Steamer Agents Association. “So, if they have to get down on to a small boat at sea and then make for the land, that is a problem,” he said.
Comments
0 comment