Guwahati, June 30: The Brahmaputra’s attraction goes beyond the country’s borders. If all goes well, a Myanmarese luxury vessel may soon set sail on the Red River with tourists for a cruise between Guwahati and Dibrugarh. The first cruise vessel on the Brahmaputa, MV Charaidew, has already turned out to be a big hit among foreign tourists and running to full houses since its inaugural journey last year.
Sources said talks between the Myanmarese river cruise company, Pandaw Cruising, and Indian shipping authorities are in an “advanced stage”.
Significantly, the company has moved the shipping authorities in India requesting permission to ply on the Brahmaputra with their own flag.
Paul Strachan, managing director of Pandaw Cruising, has met top officials in the directorate general of shipping office at Mumbai early this month to discuss the possibility.
The Pandaw series vessels, belonging to the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, is the largest river cruise firm in Myanmar. It plans to bring a new vessel, currently under construction in Myanmar, for use on the Brahmaputra.
Strachan has also met inland water transport authorities in Guwahati and studied the navigation charts of the river.
The inland water transport office said the idea of plying with a foreign flag is to avoid having a formal set-up in India as well as avoid customs and import duties.
The company hopes that it can work out a deal on the basis of payment of reasonable port dues or waterway navigation fees as it does on the Mekong river.
“The Myanmarese vessel has a total of 28 cabins with all facilities like a salon, dining area, reception, laundry and bakery,” a source in the inland water transport said.
The cruise will be for 10 nights from Guwahati to Dibrugarh and is likely to start from January 2006.