Beached Bangladeshi vessel likely to be used as ‘shore and ship resort’ from April

The Bangladeshi ship ‘MV Maa’, which ran aground at Tenneti Park a few years ago, in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: V. RAJU

Tourism officials are planning to convert the Bangladeshi freight ship MV Maa, which ran aground near Tenneti Park in the city in 2020, into a tourist destination, according to sources.

When The Hindu enquired about its present status with the stakeholders including the shipowner on Wednesday (February 19), they said that the ship is currently not open to the public. Some maintenance work like painting was being done to prevent rusting.

Ship owner Surender Singh Gill, managing director of Shore & Ship Resorts Private Limited (M/s Gill Marines), said they are spending an amount of ₹5 lakh per month on its maintenance. The government is yet to grant all necessary approvals to the project as it wants to ensure that any tourism activity does not contravene any Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) guidelines.

“I don’t think CRZ norms will be breached as we are not going to undertake any construction activities. I explained the same to government officials including Tourism Department Managing Director Amrapali Kata during her visit to the city. I personally took her to the ship to explain how this project will not require any CRZ approvals. She understood my point and assured that the government formalities will be completed soon to make the ship useful in terms of tourism,” Mr. Gill told The Hindu.

When contacted, A.P. Tourism Special Chief Secretary Ajay Jain said that to provide the necessary infrastructure like approach road, toilets & changing rooms, the APTDC has applied for permission from the Forest Department and A.P. Coastal Zone Management Authority (CZMA).

“The Forest Department has given permission, but the permissions from CZMA are yet to be granted. After obtaining the necessary permissions, APTDC will associate with Gill Marines to develop the ship as a ‘Shore and Ship resort’. We will make it possible in the next two months,” Mr. Ajay Jain said on Wednesday.

The ship, which was waiting to load cargo at the Visakhapatnam Anchorage Port, was said to have lost two anchors and drifted ashore during a cyclonic storm in the early hours of October 13, 2020. It drifted ashore and finally ran aground on the hard rocky shore at Tenneti Park near the foothills of Kailasagiri. After rescue operations and recovery work failed, the ship’s owners, Advance Shipping Limited, Dhaka, decided to declare the ship as abandoned.

The ship’s insurers, North of England, took possession of the ship and declared it a wreck and proposed to scrap it.

The then YSRCP government proposed to use the ship for tourism purposes by developing it as a floating restaurant. Gill Marines, which had then taken over the ship from the insurers, offered to sell the abandoned ship to APTDC for ₹4.50 crore.

Then, APTDC informed Gill Marines that it would provide all necessary support for development of the ship as a tourist attraction. On October 20, 2021, Gill Marines accepted the APTDC offer.