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Handling the Nimitz crew on land

A Kerala company was responsible for arranging the tour plans for the Nimitz crew at Chennai. These men and women tell Priyadershini Sabout their experience on board the ship

Privileged group The Marvel Tours team along with some crew members on board the Nimitz

Take a guess; what can USS Nimitz, a warship with 80 fighter jets and 10 helicopters on board, have to do with Kerala? A Kochi-based tour operator Marvel Tours was responsible for handling the transport, guide and tours of the 6,000 crew on board. A

nd the mammoth task was as adventurous as the ship’s docking at Chennai.

“Tour operators are given a very detailed itinerary, months in advance, about the passengers on any cruise liner that docks. Of the places they would like to visit, the cultural shows or any special activities they would like to indulge in. Every bit of their brief stopover is meticulously planned but for the Nimitz we had no clue of what was to be done. We had exactly three days to get everything organised,” says Sejoe Jose, director of Marvel Tours.

After organising with onboard co-ordinator, Jeff, and with all systems in place, Sejoe recalls the confusion that ensued on the arrival of the ship. “Nimitz docked three nautical miles off Chennai. Another company was given the task of ferrying the passengers ashore but of the three boats that were to do so, one developed a leak and sank. That was on the evening of July 2. Another boat too had problems so there was just one boat to bring the passengers across. Two tugs were pressed into service to handle the chaos. Those ashore were the ones who wished to stay on the ship after an outing and those on the ship were the ones who had opted for the tours. It had got all mixed up due to the small mishap and so we had to accommodate the stranded passengers, about 800 or so. It was four in the morning when we could get our clients in place. The next two days were smooth sailing for us as we had 250 passengers on tour to Mahabalipuram and Kanchipuram.” And that’s how an absolutely crazy situation was handled with aplomb.

“But it was wonderful,” gushes Shyamala Kumar, manager Marvel Tours, Tamil Nadu. “It was such a privilege to be on board the Nimitz. It is an 18-storey ship but we were shown only the top four floors. There is a 50-bed hospital with ICU and all that, a school, classes with semester system…it is really amazing.” It was customised tours for the passengers.

Says Sejoe, “The life the crew leads on the warship is very hard. They work 12 hours a day. All they yearn for is beer and some fun. The average age of the crew is in the twenties. So they are very young people looking for entertainment. Most of them opted for city tours. Only about 250 of them went visiting outside Chennai. We had initially blocked 25 buses for them with Government of India guides on board. We handled the travel for them in Chennai and also of Pinckney, a ship that sails along with the Nimitz.”

And how did a Kerala-based tour operator get to handle a U.S. warship cruise? “Oh that’s through our agents in Delhi, Liberty India.” Whatever and however, it was a marvellous experience for the Marvel Tours team who can’t stop talking about USS Nimitz and their experience on board it.

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