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With the safe arrival of the KATHA PANDAW in Kolkata last week by tug tow from Burma, Pandaw are delighted to announce a third vessel will go out to India this month – being the eighteen cabin KINDAT PANDAW, that will join her identical sister the KALAW also sailing out this month.

As many departures have sold out now, on both the seven-night Lower Ganges, from Kolkata to Farakka, plied by the KALAW, and the fourteen night ‘Upper Ganges’ from Kolkata to Varanasi, on the KATHA, the KINDAT will be used to provide additional departures on either.

The KINDAT, like her sister ships, belong to Pandaw’s unique ultra-shallow draft K-class. These were pioneered by the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company in the 1880s as the shallowest draft vessels of such a size on the planet, which they remain so today. This means that year-round they can sail all the way up to Varanasi and beyond. Being only twin-decked, they can also get under low bridges!

In 2020 Pandaw will expand operations to include the mighty Brahmaputra River and again with such shallow draft vessels can go far further than any other vessels operating on the river. The company plans to offer river expeditions as far up stream as Dibrugarh.

Pandaw founder Paul Strachan comments, “India is the jewel in the crown for river cruising, there are no other rivers in the world where there is such a magnificent combination of cultural treasures and majestic beauty; there is no other country where river cruising offers the ultimate travel solution to see all in tranquillity and comfort”.