FEATURES: HOSPITALITY
Angriya crew members surround Captain Nitin Dhond and Leena Prabhu (sixth and seventh from left)
All hands on deck
India’s first domestic cruise ship, Angriya, is plying the Mumbai to Goa route, with Bose audio systems enlivening the decks and cargo hold-turned nightclub. Caroline Moss gets on board MANY CHILDHOOD DREAMS FADE INTO MEMORIES AS the business of real life gradually deprives them of ambition. Not so for Captain Nitin Dhond, whose own dream shaped his childhood, informed his career choice at 16 and was finally realised at the age of 60. As a young boy, Captain Dhond’s imagination was captured by two steamers that used to traverse India’s Konkan coast between what was then Bombay and the former Portuguese colony of Goa, their cargos of exotic fruit and household goods mingling with deckloads of passengers picnicking and playing music into the night. This infected the boy with an ambition to sail the seas, leading to a long and distinguished career with the Indian merchant navy, gaining vast international maritime experience. However, his memories of the Konkan coast never faded. By 1980, those steamers had been co-opted and were later sent to Sri Lanka as peacekeeping forces. The service was never reinstated, so Captain Dhond decided to resurrect the voyage. ‘He spread the word among the marine fraternity that he was on the lookout for a suitable ship,’ explains Captain Dhond’s sister Leena Prabhu, whose irrepressible energy has overseen Angriya’s refit and its ongoing operations. ‘A friend was surveying a 20-year-old ship being decommissioned in Japan that he thought would be perfect for Captain Dhond’s requirements. We didn’t want to have more than 400 passengers on board, and we also wanted something that would give people an enhanced experience of being at sea. This ship used to sail from mainland Japan to the Ogasawara Islands with cargo and passengers, and it was very well maintained. So, we decided very quickly, together with our partners, to buy it in December 2016.’ The ship was sailed from Japan to Goa where work began to convert it into a passenger cruiser, alongside necessary bureaucracy to register it under the Indian flag. This involved a name change to Angriya, honouring one of India’s unsung heroes, Sarkhel Kanhoji Angre, first admiral of the Maratha Navy who took on colonial maritime powers in the 18th century and never lost a battle.
58 PRO AVL ASIA Januar y–Februar y 2020
Audio Technik’s Kevin Pillai oversaw the audio installation
A weather-resistant Bose LT 9702 WR system covers the pool deck After three months in Goa, the onset of the monsoon forced the ship and its team northwards to dry dock in Mumbai. By now, extensive metalwork had created three passenger decks, a nightclub in the former storage refrigerator and several cafés and restaurants, one of which, Ancora, is designed around the giant anchor from the original vessel. ‘Captain Dhond had a lot of clarity on how he wanted the ship to look,’ explains Prabhu. ‘It has very straight lines which we wanted to maintain. Many cruise liners are large and inward-looking; we wanted to change the theme of the ship to make it outward-facing,
so people could experience the sea, the coastline and its history.’ Captain Dhond also founded the Wildernest Goa eco resort in 800 acres of forest rescued from poaching, known for its dedication to ecology and conservation, and there is an emphasis on educating passengers as they sail. An on-board ecologist can help identify birds and mammals spotted on the voyage and there is information on ancient forts and settlements along the route, while screens in one of the restaurants show nature programmes and children’s films.
