Mangaluru (PTI) Carrying 550 passengers and 400 crew members, the eighth cruise vessel and last of the current season, ‘Nautica,’ called at New Mangalore Port (NMP), port officials said on Tuesday.

The Marshall Islands-flagged ship arrived at the port at 8.30 am on Monday and berthed alongside berth No. 4. The vessel previously called at Cochin Port and left from NMP to Mormugao Port at 4.30 pm, a release from the port said.

The overall length of the ship is 180.05 metres with a carrying capacity of 30,277 Gross Tonnage and has a draft of six metres. The cruise passengers were given traditional welcome while disembarking from the ship.

Various arrangements were made for a pleasant experience of the cruise passengers including buses and taxis for touring various locations in and around the city.

The passengers visited various tourist destinations in the city including temples. Souvenirs were presented while they were embarking their ship in memory of their visit to Mangaluru.

Post pandemic, the cruise season reopened in November 2023 after a gap of three years. The eight ships which visited the port in this season had 3,602 passengers.

The port on an average receives 25 ships in a year with an average passenger inflow of 27,000 approximately. For the coming cruise season, already 13 ships have confirmed their visit and the numbers are expected to increase as the cruise tourism industry is seeing steadfast growth in passenger registrations after the pandemic, the release said.