Floating restaurant and INS Viraat museum to be set up in Vizag

The idea of a floating restaurant for tourism, proposed by the Union Shipping Minister, Nitin Gadkari, during his recent visit to Visakhapatnam might soon turn into reality. The Port Trust of the city is appointing an official to study the possibility of the project. Also, INS Viraat museum and cruise tourism are in the proposal.

Speaking to The Hindu, Visakhapatnam Port Trust Deputy Chairman, PI Harinadh said, “We will seek an expression of interest to find out which successful floating restaurant model is best suited for Visakhapatnam. We have to study various options for the technical and financial viability of the project.”

During the CII Partnership Summit, AP Tourism Authority has signed a MoU with a firm based in Goa. But the plan of action has not been developed until now.

Some of the popular floating restaurants include the ones at Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur, Manta Resort in Tanzania, Conrad in the Maldives, Good Hotel in London, Salt and Sill in Sweden, Salt and water Catamarans in Serbia, Resorts World in Singapore and Odd Paris Seine in France.

All these famous floating restaurants would stand as an example to study the potentiality and the financial pattern.

INS Viraat

INS Viraat is Indian Navy’s oldest war machine. The Indian Navy Aircraft carrier has been decommissioned and is all set to become a floating museum attraction either at Yarada or Bheemili Beach. The AP government plans have gained momentum. It is currently preparing the detailed report with cost estimates for the plans. Converting the Navy ship into a dedicated floating museum is on the cards.

Cruise Tourism proposal

With an investment of around Rs 5 Crore, the Port Trust planned on promoting a 102-metre passenger jetty for cruise tourism during the Fleet Review in 2016. With the objections from the fishermen, the cruise tourism plan has been withdrawn for a year.

Now, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Nara Chandrababu Naidu has proposed to pull in cruise tourism between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada.