Floating restaurant on Bangladeshi vessel MV Maa to open in India

A collaborative project by Shore and Ship Resorts and Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) of India, proposed a floating restaurant on a Bangladesh-abandoned merchant vessel which will be open for public visits from 29 December.

MV Maa, an 80-metre Bangladeshi vessel, was anchored at Visakhapatnam of Andhra Pradesh in India on 19 September 2020 in ballast condition to load 2,800 tonnes of quartzite to be shipped to Mongla Port, reported the Deccan Chronicle. 

On 12 October that year, the vessel's chain snapped due to forceful winds, and the ship was stranded near Tenneti Park, a beachfront park in Visakhapatnam. 

The Andhra Pradesh government swiftly perceived this as an opportunity and landed on the idea of reworking the vessel into a floating restaurant to amp up tourism. 

The idea soon evolved into a Rs15 crore project being implemented by Shore and Ship Resorts and APTDC.

Shore and Ship resorts will develop the ship and marine works while APTDC will build the required infrastructure on the shoreside beach.

The vessel will have an open restaurant on the deck, an air-conditioned sky roof restaurant in the cargo area, and other facilities like cottages, sea-going yachts and water scooters.

"The abandoned ship will be an attractive tourist project for the state. Hence we have asked the developers to advance their opening dates, so that it can cater to tourists visiting Vizag this winter season itself," APTDC Managing Director S Satyanarayana told the Deccan Chronicle on Friday. 

"A visit to the vessel itself will be exciting. Hence we are opening it for the public," said Surender Singh Gill, promoter of Shore and Ship Resorts.

There has been a frenzy in Visakhapatnam since the vessel ran aground leading thousands to close in to view the ship; this obligated the police to seal off the area to prevent accidental drowning.