The second cruise ship of the current season, Seven Seas Explorer,’ arrived at New Mangalore Port (NMP), carrying 686 passengers and 552 crew. The ship has overall length of 223.74 meters and carrying capacity of 55,254 Gross Tonnage with draft of 7 meters. The vessel enroute to Male (Maldives) came from Port of Qatar to India and had berthed at Mormugao Port previously.
The passengers were given a warm welcome with traditional folklore like Yakshagana and traditional drums, NMP sources said.
Various arrangements were done including medical screening of passengers, immigrations and customs counters for swift movement, 25 bus coaches for passengers visiting local market and shops in and around the city.
Taxis, tourist vans and a meditation centre by the department of AYUSH were kept ready.
New Mangalore Port Authority (NMPA) chairman A V Ramana felicitated and greeted the master onboard the ship as a gesture of welcoming to the port. The passengers visited various tourist points in the city.
While embarking back to their ship, passengers were given souvenirs by the port for the fond memory of their visit to the city. The ship sailed to its next destination to Male in the evening, the sources said.
