A luxury ferry service between Karachi and Dubai has been approved. It would take off on November 2, Captain Anwar Shah (Retd), Director General of Pakistan Ports and Shipping said. The initial fare for the Karachi-Dubai ferry service would be $549 (Dh2,000) for a round trip, private TV channel reported.
He said the government was encouraging private operators to run the ferry service.
"We have already awarded licences to five operators and Gulf Dream Cruise will be the first to operate its cruise in November," he said. Gulf Dream Cruise will run a weekly ferry service between Dubai and Karachi. The ship will take two days to travel from Karachi to Dubai.
It will dock in Dubai for a day and then return to Karachi. Passengers will be able to take a one-way trip as well. Shah said that the regular ferry for fast transfer of passengers between the two countries was not feasible because the airfare is quite cheap between Karachi and Dubai.
Also, expatriates living in the UAE don't want to spend days on the ship when they go on annual leave to their country. "This is a unique idea and there is a lot of potential as there is a big demand from foreign and Pakistani tourists, who love to go on a cruise for a short distance and Dubai is the most wanted destination," Shah said.
Gulf Dream Cruise weighs 23,000 tonnes with a length of 196 metres. It has 540 rooms and can accommodate up to 1,250 passengers and will have a crew of 400.
The cruise will have all the facilities available in an international cruise liner. It will have theatre, games, entertainment facilities and restaurants. Shah said the service would be extended to other Gulf countries such as Bahrain, Oman and Qatar in the coming years.
Tour operators in Dubai have also welcomed the new service. "It will definitely give a boost to tourism between the two countries," he said. Administration and operations manager at Lama Tour receives tourist groups from Pakistan. He said even residents in the UAE would like to go on such a cruise.