Kochi Marinas fame spreading far and wide

KOCHI: Kochi is showing the way to other maritime cities in the country. The successful implementation of Kochi Marina project seems to have prompted Tamil Nadu, Andaman Nicobar and Maharashtra to set up their own marinas. A team of officials of the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) and teams from other coastal states recently visited the Kochi Marina to study the project.“Apart from government agencies, some private players have also come here to learn about the marina. It is the first time that many of them were seeing a marina though the term is familiar to them.” said Commander (retd) Jose Varghese, head of operations at Kochi Marina.  The Kochi Marina was set up by the KTDC under the guidance of KITCO. It can berth 34 yachts at a time and this will be later enhanced to 50. It was set up by the KTDC spending Rs 8.21 crore, of which Rs 4 crore was Central assistance.A three-storey Marina House on the north-eastern side of the Bolghatty Palace Hotel to accommodate sailors is another attraction of the marina. Facilities to repair yachts and fill fuel, recreational facilities such as golf course, swimming pool and spa, health club, restaurant and beer parlour are the other components. “Being the first and only marina in the country, it is quite natural that other maritime states would be interested to know whether they can set up a similar facility to promote adventure tourism. The TTDC team may be planning a marina in Chennai,” said K G Mohanlal, MD, KTDC.The floating docks of the marina are built on concrete beams. A board walk - a wooden structure protruding into the backwaters to facilitate tourists to watch the yachts - has also been arranged at Kochi Marina.The marina constructed by Sharjah-based Gulf Marinas is being operated by Mumbai- based Ocean Blue on a three-year contract with the KTDC. While the marina is being operated by Ocean Blue, the Marina House which has 24 deluxe rooms, including four suite rooms, a recreation centre and cafeteria, is under the direct management of the KTDC.