Mumbai-Goa cruise may sail only in September

Your wait for sailing to Goa from Mumbai on a cruise may get longer.

The services, which were to commence in a few weeks, may now start in September.

The cruise was originally slated to start in December 2017, but has been delayed since.

While the Mumbai Port Trust maintains that services will start this month itself, the silence and lack of marketing of tickets tells another story.

"Looking at the progress made, the sailings should start sometime during the second half of April," said Sanjay Bhatia, chairman of Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT).

However, Siddharth Newalkar, Director of Sea Eagle Cruises, which would ferry around 400 passengers on board the ship Angriya on each sailing, is reluctant to talk about anything related to Mumbai-Goa sailings.

Officially, a last few clearances from authorities are left, after which a trip will be made to Goa as part of 'trial' before the actual operations begin.

If these procedures are through this month, it is likely that cruise will sail, said an MbPT official.

"From mid-May, the sea becomes choppy due to monsoon. It will not be possible to commence the services, and will have to wait for the season to get over, which is only from September," he said.

Meanwhile, MbPT is giving final touches to domestic cruise terminal inside Victoria Dock, next to Ferry Wharf at Mazagon. Earlier, the terminal building had office of Senior Dock Master, but during the last few years fell into neglect. Around Rs 15 crore have been spent to refurbish the two-floor structure.

"The terminal will have a dedicated beautiful seafront area of approximately 17,500 square metre with landscaping, food place, public convenience, waiting hall, etc. This terminal is different from the Mumbai International Cruise Terminal, and dedicated only for domestic sailings," said an MbPT official.

The passenger vessel is also undergoing refit and repairs to meet with the Indian regulations.

Built in 1997 and registered in Japan as Ogasawara Maru, the ship got registered in Niue (an island in the Pacific) with the name Ogasa; thereafter Sea Eagle Cruises got it to India and rechristened it as Angriya.

Sources said there was a likelihood that the service may be pushed to 2018-end as parliamentary elections are slated for early next year.

As per the plans, the ship will sail out from Mumbai at 6 pm to reach Panaji at 8 am and vice-versa on alternate days. The intermediate halts are likely to be at Dighi (Raigad district), Dhabol and Jaigad (Ratnagiri district), Vijaydurg and Malvan (Sindhudurg district).

The initial plan involves sailings up to Goa, thereafter, depending upon the demand the voyage may be extended to Cochin. Sailings will happen only during fair weather, and the vessel will be berthed at Domestic Cruise Terminal for its entertainment-cum-restaurant facilities.

The fare structure is yet to be made public. However, sources said, it would be 'affordable' so that even the middle class people come on board.

The last passenger sailing between Mumbai and Goa was in 1991 on vessels Konkan Shakti and Konkan Sevak. But the vessels were sent to Sri Lanka and the services stopped. The voyage took around 24 hours then.

FACING HEADWIND

• If there's public demand and financially feasible, sailings may even extend to Cochin
   
• Will sail out of Mumbai at 6pm to reach Panaji at 8am and vice versa on alternate days
   
• Halts include Dighi, Dhabol, Jaigad, Vijaydurg and Malvan