World’s longest river cruise to operate from Varanasi to Assam via Bangladesh from January

Ganga Vilas Cruise, the world’s longest river cruise is all set to sail next year, in early January. The voyage shall commence from the city of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh on January 10 and round off at Dibrugarh, Assam on March 1.

Sarbananda Sonowal, union minister of ports, shipping and waterways, mentioned that the cruise will be covering 1,100 kilometers in Bangladesh on its way to Assam. In the 50-day journey from Varanasi to Dibrugarh, the passengers will get a chance to witness various mesmerizing moments including the Ganga Aarti, moving through the Sunderbans and Mayong, the cradle of ‘black magic’ in India. the cruise is to have 18 luxury suites along with other luxurious facilities to offer. The ship will pass via three major waterways, namely, the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system, the Indo-Bangla Protocol Route, via Kolkata-Dhubri, and the National Waterway 2 over Brahmaputra.

Minister Sonowal took to his official Twitter handle to share a video of the ship and about its maiden voyage. he posted the video with a caption which read, “The world’s longest river cruise will commence its journey in Jan next year. Ganga Vilas, will set sail from sacred Varanasi to Dibrugarh via Bangladesh covering 4,000 km on the two greatest rivers of India, Ganga & Brahmaputra. Watch.”

Take a look at the video here:

The world’s longest river cruise will commence its journey in Jan next year. Ganga Vilas, will set sail from sacred Varanasi to Dibrugarh via Bangladesh covering 4,000 km on the two greatest rivers of India, Ganga & Brahmaputra. Watch 🎥 pic.twitter.com/1buzy8ISig

— Sarbananda Sonowal (@sarbanandsonwal) November 12, 2022

The cruise has been launched to promote the tourism and development sector and develop the relation between India and Bangladesh. The entire plan includes covering  27 river systems and more than 50 tourist sites. this is a result of a Public-Private Partnership involving collaboration from the Government’s end. The fare for the voyage has not been announced yet. However, it has been reported that the Central government is most unlikely to interfere in the matters of pricing of tickets and passes. The decision for the same will solely be taken by the operators on a cost-plus basis.