Overview: The Pandaw sails between the ancient capitals of Bagan and Mandalay, offering a tranquil and stimulating Myanmar experience.

A journey on Burma’s Irrawaddy River is one of life’s great travel experiences. No vessel could be more appropriate for this than a ship of the Pandaw fleet.

Built in Scotland in 1947, Pandaw I is the same design as the original Irrawaddy Flotilla Company steamers that coped so well with the difficult conditions of the Irrawaddy. Originally the Pandaw was a paddle steamer with the paddle placed in the stern to reduce draft. In fact the vessel draws only 3.5ft of water and can operate the year round as far as Bhamo. The Pandaw was built in Glasgow by the firm of Yarrows who to this day build quality ships. She sailed out to Burma across the open sea. Archival photos show her steaming down the Clyde all boarded up for passage to Burma. With so shallow a draft this must have been a feat of navigation.

The old Irrawaddy Flotilla was a Scot’s company founded in 1865. By the 1920s the ‘fabulous flotilla’, as it became known, was the largest privately owned fleet of ships in the world. The largest class of vessels, the ‘Siam’ were licensed to carry 4,000 deck passengers. The entire fleet of 650 vessels were scuppered in 1942 in an ‘act of denial’ against the invading Japanese. The company was revived in 1995 and has since then specialised in river cruises in Burma.

The Pandaw is 150 feet long and has a beam of 34 feet. In 1997 we discovered her at the Mandalay docks and subsequently negotiated with the owners to take her over. Conserving many original features, we restored her to recreate the atmosphere and character of the first class deck of a colonial river steamer. We studied old photos and models of IFC ships and talked to a number of the company’s former employees. We were fortunate to undertake the refit in Burma, taking advantage of beautiful local hardwoods, such as teak, and excellent local craftsmanship. Refitted, the Pandaw was relaunched in September 1998.

The RV Pandaw quickly become popular. Demand for both charters and our scheduled services exceeded all expectations. For this reason we decided to introduce a second vessel into service for November 2001. Our new ship, called Pandaw II, is of the same P-class design as the original Pandaw. This was an original colonial Irrawaddy Flotilla Company design and for over a hundred years has been tried and tested successfully in the often treacherous conditions of Burma’s rivers. As we have seen in the past, whilst other vessels remained trapped in port due to hazardous low water levels, the Pandaw kept plying without interruption four times a week between Pagan and Mandalay .

Pandaw II has been built new in Rangoon to our own exacting standards. She is larger than her sister, at 180 ft long and 34 ft wide with 2 accommodation decks and an observation deck above. She will draw only 4 ft of water. The much loved and generously sized staterooms (14 x 12 ft) of Pandaw I has been faithfully reproduced as have the teak promenade decks that run around the ship. There are 24 staterooms (48 berths) an increase of 8 cabins from the original Pandaw.

Cell phones, Sat phones (where permitted by local authorities) VHF and SSB radio, internal phone system, PA system and tannoy system for navigation purposes.

Smoke detectors in all cabins and public places, emergency lighting and generator, fire pump, hydrants and hoses, fire extinguishers, life jackets for all on board and life rafts.

Navigation lights, ships horn, searchlight, GPS, Radar (where permitted by local authorities).

On board laundry, bakery, fully equipped galley and refrigeration units; air conditioning for all inside areas.

Treatment plants for desalination, desedimentation and purification using UV and osmosis.

Microbiotic treatment plants.

Myanmar DMA Inland Water (based on Lloyds Inland Water Class).

Country flags in areas of operation.

Ship Owners UK: P&I policies with over USD45million per vessel.

28 per vessel of mixed Asean nationalities.

European expatriate experts employed directly by Pandaw Cruises supervising experienced Asian Pursers.