The Port of Mombasa is expected to achieve a milestone in hosting cruise ships with the arrival of a luxurious ship that consists of 165 private apartments.
The ship, ‘Ms The World’, is the only known marine vessel worldwide that offers an opportunity for people to purchase apartments built inside it which they can live in as it cruises around the world.
According to VesselFinder, a real-time vessel tracking website, the ship sailing under the flag of Bahamas was expected to arrive in Mombasa at 2 am on April 2.
A travel schedule seen by nation.africa shows that during the stopover, the ship’s residents will be offered an opportunity to sample some tourist attractions in the country.
“After almost two weeks in South Africa, The World will traverse the turquoise seas of Africa’s east coast, stopping along the way in Mozambique, Zanzibar and Kenya before a week spent among the white sands of the Seychelles.
The World shall then set its course for four months’ exploration of Asia, from the cosmopolitan cultural centres of Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong to the more tranquil locations of Bali and Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay,” a statement posted on its website says.
The World, launched in 2022, has a variety of residences ranging from studio apartments to three-bedroom homes.
Residents are allowed to customise these apartments to their personal preferences. Beyond the apartments, residents can also get meals, drinks, recreational and other services tailored to their tastes.
Details from its website show that its residents are from 20 countries and they travel according to an itinerary that they select.
Apart from houses, the ship boasts amenities such as six restaurants, golf facilities, a tennis court, swimming pools, a spa, a fitness centre, a library, cinema among others.
According to a 2017 article by CNN, a studio apartment costs $3 million (Sh396 million going by current exchange rates) while a three-bedroom home costs $15 million (Sh1.98 billion).
Its arrival in Mombasa will add to the long list of cruise ships that have been docking at the city since September last year, among them a floating university which arrived in February.
According to the Kenya Ports Authority, more passenger vessels are expected at the port before the cruise season ends this month.
“It has been a good cruise season for KPA, as we have received a fleet of vessels since the circuit began sometime in September last year. This has been supported by the now operational ultra-modern Cruise Terminal,” KPA said in a statement.
However, the impact of the arrival of over 7,000 cruise ship tourists to the country so far is yet to be felt in the coastal tourism sector.
According to stakeholders, among them the Ministry of Tourism, this is largely because most of the ships do not stay in Kenya for more than 24 hours apart from the fact that the majority of the passengers usually do not leave the port’s vicinity for lack of permits to enter into the country.
If a ship stays longer, passengers still prefer the luxury of their rooms instead of spending their money on local hotel rooms.
