Pandaw is preparing to move a third ship to India after cancelling plans to switch Orient Pandaw to the country’s rivers from Myanmar.
The line has decided to move 36-passenger Kindat Pandaw from Myanmar, where the majority of its fleet sails, this month.
Last week, the line repositioned Katha Pandaw and Kalaw Pandaw is expected to arrive in India before March. Both ships had been operating in Myanmar.
In January, Pandaw was forced to cancel three sailings in India after the government in Myanmar did not give Orient Pandaw clearance to leave the country.
Katha Pandaw has since been cleared to move to India while Orient Pandaw will now stay in Myanmar.
All three ships that will sail in India – Kindat Pandaw, Katha Pandaw and Kalaw Pandaw – are part of Pandaw’s ultra-shallow draft K-class fleet.
Kalaw Pandaw will sail seven-night Lower Ganges departures from Kolkata to Farakka, both West Bengal.
Katha Pandaw will sail 14-night Upper Ganges sailings from Kolkata to Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, and Kindat Pandaw will be used for additional departures on both itineraries.
In 2020, Pandaw will expand operations to include the Brahmaputra River.
Shallow draft vessels, like Kindat Pandaw, can sail further up the Brahmaputra River than other vessels operating on the river.
The line plans to offer river cruises as far up stream as Dibrugarh in Assam, north-east India.
Bengal Pandaw was the last Pandaw ship to sail in India, in 2009.
Bengal Pandaw was pulled from service after one season following operational difficulties.
Since then, Pandaw has chartered other lines’ vessels to sail in India.