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Indo-Bangla cruise service with 110 tourists is set to kick off from Narayanganj today aiming to explore a new sphere of tourism between the two neighbouring countries Bangladesh and India.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal is likely to inaugurate the Dhaka-Kolkata cruise service at the VIP jetty of Pagla, Narayanganj around 7:00pm.
Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, state minister for Shipping Ministry, and Md Mahbub Ali, state minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry, will present as special guest.
Another cruise vessel will also sail for Dhaka from Haldia, West Bengal, India, said BIWTC officials.
“The first ever cross border cruise ‘MV Modhumoti’ with 110 tourists on board will start today, although it has a capacity of 750 passengers,”
Chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTC) Pronoy Kumar Kanti told BSS earlier.
The government is launching the cruse facility experimentally, he said, adding, “So we are allowing only 110 passengers on board with cabin facility.”
Moreover, a total of 45 staffs, including crews and master, will be on board for operating the passengers, the chairman said.
The three-day one-way cost from Dhaka to Kolkata will be Tk 15,000 for a family suite (two-person cabin), Tk 5,000 per passenger for the first class, Tk 10,000 for the deluxe class (two persons), Tk 8,000 per passenger for the economy chair and Tk 1500 per passenger for deck or the shulov class, said sources at BIWTC.
Modhumoti is expected to reach Kolkata at 12 noon on March 31, navigatinmg through Barishal-Mongla-Sundarbans-Antyhara of Khulna and Holdia route of India.
Last year, the shipping ministries of the two countries finalised the standard operating procedure (SoP) for the movement of passenger and cruise vessels on the coastal and designated inland routes between the two neighbours.