Fri Jul 04 14:39:39 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a summary and a news article based on the provided text:

**Summary:**

Luxury cruise liner M/V Empress, operated by Cordelia Cruises, made a stop in Puducherry on Friday, July 4th, 2025, bringing 1,231 passengers and 574 crew members. Around 700 passengers disembarked for sightseeing, facilitated by the Pondicherry Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) with buses, cabs, and autorickshaws. The visit was welcomed by tourism officials, including Secretary D. Manikandan, and concluded with a send-off from Minister K. Lakshminarayanan. The cruise liner is scheduled to return to Puducherry on July 11th and 18th.

**News Article:**

**Luxury Cruise Liner Brings Tourist Boost to Puducherry**

**PUDUCHERRY, July 4, 2025** – Puducherry welcomed the M/V Empress, a luxury cruise liner operated by Cordelia Cruises, on Friday, injecting a welcome boost into the local tourism sector. The vessel, en route from Visakhapatnam to Chennai, anchored off the coast, bringing 1,231 passengers and 574 crew members to the Union Territory.

Approximately 700 passengers took advantage of the stop to explore Puducherry, with the Pondicherry Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) coordinating transportation and sightseeing opportunities. Secretary to Lieutenant Governor and Tourism Secretary D. Manikandan was present to greet the visitors at the New Port, where they arrived by boats from the ship.

“We facilitated tours to major tourist destinations for those who had pre-booked packages with PTDC,” said Secretary D. Manikandan. “Cabs and autorickshaws were also readily available for visitors who wished to explore the city independently.” The majority of the tourists were domestic travelers.

Minister for Public Works and Tourism K. Lakshminarayanan visited the New Port in the evening to bid farewell to the tourists and crew. He expressed his enthusiasm for the potential of cruise tourism to boost the local economy.

The M/V Empress is scheduled to include Puducherry in its itinerary again on July 11th and 18th, promising a continued influx of tourists in the coming weeks, according to government officials.

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