By June, Kochi will have a whole new Cruise Vessel Reception Facility! It is being set up at Cochin Port Trust, and about 70% of the work is over. The new facility will come up close to the existing BTP berth, built three years ago when the Volvo Ocean Race was going on.
The terminal is being developed jointly by the Union Ministry of Tourism and the Department of Tourism, Kerala. It covers a total area of 3,600sq.ft, and right now, about 1,500sq.ft of area will be developed. In a later phase, the remaining area will be developed by private investors.
This seven-crore project comes at the right time – more than 120 cruise ships have been handled here since April 2007. The Cochin port had set a new record in handling the largest number of such ships in a year (43 in 2007-2008) in the country.