Indian Cruise Line Coming with Two Ships?

According to an article on LiveMint.com, a new cruise line is set to launch service from Mumbai as early as next year.

The report names Newport Maritime and its founder Sivakumar Elayathamby Sinnarajah as the involved parties, said to be investing up to $400 million. Sinnarajah is of Sri Lankan origin.

The cruise line will operate under the name Royal Asian, according to LiveMint, and will be sailing the Gemini (currently owned by ISP) and another mid-sized vessel. The ships will be named Asian Pride and Asian Song.

Cruise Industry News could not confirm the ship plans. The Gemini most recently sailed for Happy Cruises and is currently laid up in the UK. The second ship was referred to as the Crown Majesty, believed to be incorrectly named in the report.

Louis Cruises had previously tried sourcing passengers and sailing from India, but pulled out only after a few weeks.

Additionally, reports claim various ministries in India are reviewing incentives and tax breaks for the operation.

Sources familiar with the project suggested to Cruise Industry News that the official news would follow later in the year, and that the original reporting had misconstrued numerous facts in regards to the project.

CruiseIndustryNews.com first ran coverage in regards to this rumor in March of 2013.

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