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Colombo Port to become regional cruise hub
Moves are underway to make Colombo a regional hub for passenger cruise services, an official said yesterday.
Ceylon Shipping Corporation Chairman Sashi Dhanatunge said the Corporation was expanding its passenger cruise services beyond India to promote the tourism industry. He said Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean was an advantageous factor in promoting trade and tourism between the east and west.
“An exclusive passenger terminal will be set up at the Colombo port from where cruise services will be operating to the Maldives, Cochin and Goa in India, Myanmar and Thailand. This could be a win-win situation for both Sri Lanka and these countries,” Mr. Dhanatunge said.As part of this plan, a passenger ferry service would be started between Thalaimannar and Rameshwaram.The CSC chairman said India would invest US$ 80 million for the development of passenger ports and jetties in both countries with a view to resuming the Thalaimannar-Rameshwaram ferry service and to expand it later from Colombo to Turicorin.
India’s investment follows an agreement the two countries signed early this year during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka. In terms of this agreement, the CSC initiated talks with Indian officials and more talks were expected once a new government takes office in Sri Lanka.
Mr. Dhanatunge said the reinstated Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram was also in favour of the passenger service project. In 2012, the CSC together with an Indian company, Flamingo Liners, started a passenger ferry service between Colombo and Tuticorin but it was abandoned due to heavy losses.
Meanwhile the Indian government has asked the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to carry out a feasibility study for a road and rail link between Rameswaram and Thalaimannar and fund the project across Palk Strait.