Cruise vessel ‘Insignia’ calls at New Mangaluru Port

Mangaluru, Sep 28: Cruise vessel M.V. Insignia has called at New Mangalore Port with 625 cruise passengers and 400 crew members onboard. This is the first cruise vessel which calls at the port during the beginning of the cruise season from September to April.

The vessel which came from Goa berthed at the Port on Sunday morning and around 400 passengers and crew opted for ground tour arranged by the local tour operator, Lia Travels.

Majority of the tourist passengers are from United States of America and Canada. They visited various locations in and around Mangaluru like Mangaladevi temple, Gokarnanatha temple, St Aloysius Chappel, Cashew processing units, Monolithic statue of lord bahubali at Karkala, Soans farm and 1000 pillar jain basadi at Moodabidri, city shopping, etc.

After enjoying the scenic beauty of Mangalore, the passengers returned to the vessel and sailed out to Cochin in the evening. J.M. Baxi & Co are the agents of the vessel.

The Port authorities have received the vessel by presenting a flower bouquet to the captain. The captain has expressed happiness over the arrangements made by the port for smooth handling of the vessel and passengers. NMPT has witnessed a steady growth in handling cruise vessels during the past few years. The port is expected to receive 21 cruise vessels during the current financial year.