more-in Two cruise vessels, one from Italy and another from Norway, called at New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) on Saturday facilitating hundreds of their patrons to have a glimpse of places in and around Mangaluru. M.V. Costa Victoria with 1,771 passengers and 809 crew and M.V. Insignia with 612 passengers and 407 crew were berthed alongside berths of the Port - 2 to 4. While Costa Victoria, an Italian-registered vessel having patrons from different countries, including France, Netherlands and Germany, came from Colombo; Insignia, a Norwegian cruise liner with patrons from the US and Canada, came from Malé. The former sailed out to Salalah and the latter to Kochi, said NMPT's Traffic Manager Y.R. Belagali. Mr. Belagali said about 1,300 patrons from both the vessels preferred a ground tour arranged by local tour operators —M/s Globe Travels and M/s Lia Travels. The tourists visited Mangaladevi temple, Gokarnanatha temple, St. Aloysius Chapel, cashew processing units, monolithic statue of Lord Bahubali at Karkala, Soan’s farm, Thousand Pillar Jain Basadi, Belmont House at Balmatta, and went shopping. M/s J.M. Baxi & Co. are the agents for both the vessels. Mr. Belagali quoted NMPT in-charge chairman Suresh P. Shirwadkar as saying the port has been witnessing steady growth of cruise vessels calling at the Port and as on Saturday, 20 vessels called at the port. The next vessel would call at the port on March 6. Mr. Belagali, after receiving feedback from tourists and vessel staff, said the captain and passengers were impressed with the facilities.

Stay updated with all the Latest Mangalore headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.