The port received its first cruiseship on Thursday when Star Cruises 5,000 gt MegaStar Taurus called.

PTP said that the maiden call of a Star Cruises ship at PTP was seen as an initial step towards establishment of future cruise operations at the port.

"Both parties are looking into options of developing PTP as a cruise hub in southeast Asia," a joint statement said.

With a 15 m draught the port could cater to the world's largest cruise vessels.

"Star Cruises is confident that PTP's location at the southwest of the Malaysian peninsular and backed by excellent road linkages to Singapore and the Malaysian peninsular would ensure that it serves as an effective cruise hub," the companies said.

Star Cruises operates its own Star Cruises in Port Klang, Malaysia and is developing a US$15m cruise terminal at Laem Chabang in Thailand.

The move by PTP to look into the development of a cruise hub, comes just after the chairman of Singapore's PSA Corp, Yeo Ning Hong, cautioned against the city state rushing into building a second cruise centre.

PSA operates the Singapore Cruise Centre which is used by Star Cruises as a base for some of its ships.

Dr Yeo noted that growth in the regional cruise industry was not as rapid as some would like to project. Last year passenger throughput at the SCC went to 1.02m from 1.05m the year before. Dr Yeo urged the Singapore government to look closely at the viability of a second cruise centre before deciding whether to build one.