Cruise ship operations to St. Martin’s island resume after six months

COX'S BAZAR, Sept 27: The tourist ship Baro Auliya Auliya left for Saint Martin, the only coral island in the country, with 517 tourists on Wednesday after about six months. It started its journey from Damdamiya Jetty Ghat in Teknaf around 10:00 am and reached the island after 12:00 noon.
Tourists flocked to the jetty in the morning. Zamir Chowdhury, a tourist who came from Dhaka, said, "After almost three years, I came to visit the coral island St. Martin."
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Chittagong Deputy Director (Acting) Officer Nayan Sheel said, "We are monitoring so that no ship can carry extra passengers. The ship has a capacity of 850 passengers."
Hossainul Islam Bahadur, senior vice president of Cox's Bazar Tour Operators Association (TUAC), said that our ship left for Saint Martin with 517 tourists on the first day with the permission from the District Commissioner. The ship reached St. Martin without any problems as the sea was normal and the weather was favourable. Again the ship will depart from Saint Martin to Teknaf around 3:00 pm.
The last time a tourist ship plied the Teknaf-Saint Martin route in mid-March. At that time, Carey Sindabad, Carey Cruise & Dine, Atlantic, Shahid Abdus Salam, MV Parizat, MV Raj Hans, Sukant Babu, MV Bay Cruises and MV Bar Auliya were sailing from Teknaf to St. Martin.