Tourist ship services resume on St Martin route

After a long closure, tourist ship services between Teknaf and Saint Martin's island resumes on Tuesday (November 16) on a trial basis.

Additional district magistrate Md Abu Sufiyan on Monday said a decision will be made on continuing the service on this route following the trial.

AKM Anwar Hossain, an officer of Cox’s Bazar Keari Tours and Travels, said they have received the release paper from the district commissioner, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and Department of Shipping.

“If everything works out fine, ship service will operate again for tourists travelling to Saint Martin. Already a huge number of tourists have started pre-booking the tickets," he said.

“Due to the suspension of ship services, our business has gone down. We’ve already decorated the hotels to start welcoming tourists again after getting the good news of ship service getting back to normal,” said Abdul Malek, owner of Sea Probal Hotel at Saint Martin’s Island.