COLOMBO, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's leading tour operators said on Tuesday that luxury cruise ships have begun calling at Sri Lanka's ports following the improved security situation in the island country after the Easter terror attacks on April 21 which killed over 250 people.
Aitken Spence Maritime, agents for Hapag-Lloyd, was quoted by local media as saying that the shipping groups MS Europa 2 cruise ship called at Sri Lanka's Colombo Port in the capital and Hambantota port in the south recently with 309 passengers and 356 crew onboard.
"We are delighted that Aitken Spence Maritime facilitated the first cruise ship to call on two ports of Sri Lanka after the unfortunate incidents that took place in April 2019," Iqram Cuttilan, Managing Director of Aitken Spence Maritime, said in a statement.
Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten has also selected Sri Lanka as a port for passengers to begin and end their voyages.
The cruise line will continue to make regular calls at Colombo, Hambantota, Trincomalee, in the east and Galle, in the south during the 2019/2020 season, Aitken Spence said.
Sri Lanka's tourism industry was the worst-affected in the aftermath of the Easter terror explosions which targeted three luxury churches and three hotels.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said last week that the country was soon returning to normalcy as security forces had arrested most of the suspects linked to the explosions.
