Minister for Public Works and Tourism K. Lakshminarayanan visited the New Port and felicitated the tourists and the ship crew on Friday evening.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Minister for Public Works and Tourism K. Lakshminarayanan visited the New Port and felicitated the tourists and the ship crew on Friday evening.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
A warm reception was accorded to passengers who de-boarded luxury cruise liner, M/V Empress, for sightseeing in Puducherry when the vessel berthed near the coast on Friday morning.
The ship, operated by cruise brand Cordelia Cruises, with 1, 231 passengers and 574 crew members, anchored around one km away from the Puducherry shoreline around 6.30 a.m. as the vessel sailed from Visakhapatnam to Chennai. As around 700 travellers had registered with the cruise management for sightseeing in Puducherry, they were taken to the New Port in boats available with the ship. They were received by Secretary to Lieutenant Governor and Tourism Secretary D. Manikandan.
“A total of 150 travellers who had enrolled for the package offered by Pondicherry Tourism Development Corporation were taken to major tourist destinations in buses. For others, the PTDC had facilitated cabs and autorickshaws for sightseeing and shopping. Most of them were domestic tourists,” he said.
In the evening, Minister for Public Works and Tourism K. Lakshminarayanan visited the New Port and gave a send -off to the tourists and the ship crew. The cruise liner is expected to make Puducherry a part of their itinerary on July 11 and 18, said a government official.
Published – July 04, 2025 08:09 pm IST
