Mumbai’s Muslim community calls for the restoration of the Mumbai-Jeddah sea route after the inauguration of the city’s new cruise terminal | Facebook
Mumbai: After the inauguration of the Mumbai International Cruise Terminal earlier this week, Muslim community groups have revived the demand to restart passenger ships to Saudi Arabia for the Haj and Umrah pilgrimages.
Passenger ships to Jeddah, the disembarkation port for Mecca, was discontinued in 1995 after the ship plying on the route, the SCI-owned Akbari, was scrapped. Muslims said the sea route said it could be an alternative to air fares that have shot up lately.
The plans for passenger ship services to Jeddah were first announced in 2018 by the then Minister of Minority Affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. When the plans did not materialise, Muslims reminded the government in 2023. The new cruise terminal at Mazagon, with a capacity to cater to one million passengers, has revived demands to restore the Mumbai-Jeddah ship route.
Mahim resident Syed Gulzar Rana said that air travel is faster but expensive. “The sea route will take more time, but will be more enjoyable. The cheapest Haj package through the government quota costs more than Rs four lakh per person. Ship travel will be a fraction of that,” said Rana.
Syed Ismail, who performed the pilgrimage in 2006, said it cost him less than Rs one lakh. “The cheapest package now is five times more expensive,” said Ismail who remembers receiving elderly relatives at the city’s docks after they returned from the pilgrimage. “There was camaraderie in ship travel and enough space for religious rituals.
Social worker Irfan Machiwala agreed that a sea journey was spiritually more enriching. “The ship’s open space would be ideal for namaaz, and the longer travel time would foster unity and spiritual bonding among pilgrims. We hope the government prioritises this project now that Mumbai has world-class maritime infrastructure.”
In a recent letter to the government, activists recalled that after Naqvi’s announcement, the Saudi government had shown willingness to support the initiative. They said that it took nearly a week to reach Jeddah by ship. “With today’s modern cruise vessels, the journey can be completed in just three days,” said Rana.
“The pilgrimage used to take 45 days even by air in 2006. It is much shorter, so a sea journey now will be shorter than by air two decades ago,” said Ismail.
