London-based Indian Ocean Cruises – a division of commercial shipping company Forsight – is planning on operating cruises from Goa, India to islands in the Lakshadweep chain as well as to India’s southwest coast, said CEO Les Royle. 

Plans, Royle said, are still preliminary, and the company has not yet started operations, sales or cruises – and it also doesn’t yet have a ship. “We’re presently looking at three or four ships (to buy),” Royle said. 

“The maximum we’re looking at is a ship to accommodate 250 passengers.” Royle hopes to start a shortened season by the end of this year, and will sail 14-day itineraries from October-April thereafter.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the Caribbean is getting saturated. The next logical place will be somewhere in the Arabian Sea or Indian Ocean,” he said.