Foreign cruises banned from entering India
With COVID-19 cases rising, the entry of cruise ships from abroad into the country has been halted effective Wednesday, said a government order. “Due to this, we (Mumbai Port) have had to cancel 15 pre-booked cruises in the final leg of the season,” Yashodhan A Wanage, deputy chairman, Mumbai Port, told Business Standard.
Only those cruise ships which had planned and intimated their call to an lndian port not later than January 1, will be allowed to call at such a port, according to a shipping ministry notice. However, it adds, any such ship or crew member or passenger having visited any coronavirus-affected country since February 1 will not be permitted to enter any lndian port till March 31.
The Mumbai port had seen no cancellations for the cruise season starting October. Of 243 pre-bookings, 220 cruises had already taken place. The current 15 cruise cancellations are from the remaining 23 pre-bookings.
Essel Group-owned Jalesh Cruises, a multi-destination one with a 2,000-passenger capacity, returned empty from Dubai on Thursday. The crew were mostly of Indian nationality, with some Americans and Filipinos.
“Our 631 crew members are from non-restricted regions that never left the vessel. The entire crew has tested negative (for coronavirus),” said Jurgen Bailom, president and chief executive officer at Jalesh. Formally a domestic cruise product, it is not impacted by the latest change in stance by the government, meant for foreign cruises calling at Indian ports.
“We have decided to postpone (not cancel) our remaining nine trips of the season to the end of March,” said Bailom. “We have not thought of anything beyond March 31.”
The Indian cruise season typically runs from October through May, the final month being the busiest. Mumbai is one of the busiest among ports of call for cruises, followed by Goa, Mangalore, and Kochi.
“We suddenly have to cancel seven cruises calling at New Mangalore Port,” said Y R Belagal, traffic manager at the port trust there. “The port is going to lose ~1.75 crore this season due to this.”