Pakistan will launch its first luxury cruise liner to Dubai from next week with officials hoping it would pave way for similar services to India and other Middle East countries.
Five licenses have been granted to private companies to operate luxury ferry and cruise services, Miran Mohiuddin, an official of the Pakistan shipping and ports authority said today."The dream cruise service to Dubai is the first such project from Karachi and hopefully it would set a new and positive precedent for others to follow," Mohiuddin said adding the idea was to promote the tourism industry in Pakistan.
Indian and Pakistani shipping officials have discussed the possibility of starting a ferry service between the port cities of Karachi and Mumbai but nothing has been finalised.
A senior official of the company that is launching the cruise service to Dubai on November seven said the interest in the cruise had been very good and hopefully the ship would sail fullhouse.
"The people have shown a lot of interest and we have made number of bookings. We just a few places left for the first service," Jennifer Sydenham of Gulf Dream Cruises, a Dubai-based company said.The luxury liner 'Sea Princess' has already docked in Karachi and has a capacity to hold 1,250 passengers besides 400 crew members."The cruise will be for five days with a day's stay in Dubai," Sydenham said adding the starting fare for the service is USD 549.