The liner is rusty, the cabins are cramped and the Captain's Table is a help yourself buffet.

But though the surroundings are less than glamorous, North Korea hopes to launch itself into the world of cruising with ageing liner the Mangyongbong.

The former cargo ship set sail on its maiden tour yesterday carrying about 130 passengers from the rundown port of Rajin, near the China-Russia border.

Some 500 North Koreans, about half dressed in dark workers clothes and the others in office and traditional attire, waved off the ship in a choreographed performance on the pot-holed dock.



Setting sail: The Mangyongbong embarks on a trial cruise from Rason on North Korea to the picturesque Mount Kumgang resort

Choreographed: Spectators waved flags and fake flowers as the ship pulled out of the port



All aboard: The dock at Rason is run down with pot holed roads and dirt tracks down to the port

The spectators waved North Koreans flags and fake flowers, and let off a blast of paper fireworks to mark the occasion. Carnival music blared from two minivans with speakers on their roofs.

Before the launch, vice mayor Hwang Chol-nam of Rason City, of which Rajin port is a part, gave a speech lauding the venture as part of the region’s push to attract tourism.

Hwang hailed his city’s rule which allows any nationality to visit the area visa-free. They must, however, arrange the trip through a designated tour companies. Mobile phones must be left behind in China.



'Any country, people from America, Japanese, Singaporean can come to Rason, that’s the reality today, and that’s the same for the Kumgang special economic zone,' he said.



'If any foreign companies have an interest in conducting tours they just need to contact our companies.'

The 9,700 tonne vessel then departed on its trial voyage, destination the scenic Mount Kumgang resort near the South Korean border.



Captain's Table: Passengers sample some of the delicacies from the buffet on board the Mangyongbong as it sails to the resort of Diamond Mountain

On deck: A passenger perches on the prow of the ship (left) while a fellow traveller enjoys the sunrise



On board entertainment; A waitress dances as a North Korean man sings karaoke

During the 21-hour overnight cruise, which traced the length of North Korea's east coast, some passengers slept on wooden bunkbeds while others were assigned mattresses on the floor. Simple meals were served cafeteria-style on metal trays.

A plaque on board commemorated a 1972 tour of the boat by North Korea’s founder, late President Kim Il Sung, and bright red posters emblazoned with his sayings decorated the walls.

Officials have promised a 'more luxurious' ship capable of carrying up to 900 passengers, perhaps next year. The goal is to bring as many as 4,000 visitors a day from Rason to Mount Kumgang during the peak summer season, up from some 500 per week now.

North Korea remains far off the beaten track for tourists - especially those from the U.S. and South Korea, whose nations fought against North Korea and China during the 1950-53 Korean War.

It remains to be seen how many Chinese tourists will be interested in the new tours. With incomes rising, Chinese are traveling abroad in rising numbers, thronging tour groups to Europe, Thailand, Japan and South Korea, with a small but growing number also making the short trip to nearby North Korea.

But Wang Zhijun, a Chinese hotel manager from Jilin province who joined the trip free of charge, said it won’t be hard to sell the cruise to tourists in his region, which has a large ethnic Korean population and lacks coastline of its own.

Cabin class: Foreign journalists bunker down for a night's sleep on the Mangyongbong

Facilities: Chairs and tables on deck are plastic accompanied by bright parasols

But, he said, the price would have to stay low, suggesting around 2000 yuan (US$310) per passenger for an all-inclusive, five-day trip.

'It ought to be very popular. There are a lot of tourists already coming across to Rason,' Wang said.



'People from China’s northeast would really like this kind of trip because it’s a cruise. You can enjoy the sea.'

North Korea's move to attract foreign tourists comes amid a dispute with South Korea over their stalled joint tour programme at Mount Kumgang.



Launched in 1998, it gave tourists the chance to visit scenic Diamond Mountain through tours run by the South's Hyundai Asan Corp., which opened a spa and golf resort there in 1998.



All but a sliver of the two million visitors were South Koreans who saw it as a symbol of inter-Korean cooperation following decades of animosity.



But after a North Korean guard shot and killed a South Korean tourist in 2008, Seoul halted the reconciliation programme.

Seoul demanded that Pyongyang formally apologise and allow a joint investigation before resuming the tours that brought North Korea an estimated tens of millions in hard revenue.

But last week the North expelled the last remaining South Koreans at the resort and said it would sell of Southern assets valued at nearly $320 million in a move that prompted Seoul on Tuesday to ask others not to invest.

Earlier this month, a New York-based company said it had signed a deal with North Korea to run tours to the Kumgang resort.



A senior South Korean official said North Korea would have trouble drawing investors and tourists after the way the North dealt with South Korean businesses.