The Indian cruise vessel enters Bangladesh port

Indian tourist cruise launch MV Ganga Vilas has entered Bangladesh's Sundarbans and is scheduled to arrive at Mongla Port in Bangladesh. The tourist cruise launch entered Bangladesh through the Sundarbans maritime border and arrived at Mongla port jetty on February 12th.

The Mongla port authorities accorded a reception to welcome the ship on arrival at the jetty. State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahamud Chowdhury, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh PranayVerma and Mongla Port Chairman along with officials will be present at the reception.A team from Coast Guard West Zone has been deployed to ensure safety during travel from the border to Sundarbans waterways. Ganga Vilas started its journey from Varanasi, on January 13 and since has travelled through Bihar Jharkhand and West Bengal before proceeding to Bangladesh through the protocol route. The cruise is expected to reach Dibrugarh in Assam by the end of the month

Most passengers on the cruise launch are citizens of Switzerland. They visited various places including the shrine of Khan Jahan Ali by road from Mongla port. The cruise has since moved towards MeghnaGhat, will travel to Sonargaon and Dhaka, before reentering Indian waters at Chilmari in Assam.The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) has given assistance to the movement of the cruise in its waters.

Over a period of 51 days during the cruise, MV Ganga Vilas will cross through 27 different river systems in five states in India as well as Bangladesh. It will also cover a distance of 3,200km between Varanasi and Dibrugarh via the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route – an inland water transit and trade protocol that exists between India and Bangladesh, under which inland vessels of one country can transit through specified routes of the other country, according to media reports.