July 2013
For determination of whether ships owned by Inland Water Transport could be renovated as a river dining vessel or not. The total number of 7 vessels located in 3 different places of Yangon River was visited by the guidance of the pilot from Inland Water Transport. The names of ships visited were 1. Min Ye’, 2. Min Hla, 3. Ba Nyar Oo, 4. Ba Nyar Latt, 5. Pyi Tharyar, 6. Pyi Myanmar and 7. Mya Thandar.
Sadly, none of these ships were suitable for renovation as a dining vessel as most of the ship structures were built for ferries thus not having the space required for a hall-type dining area. Bucklings, corrosions and structural failures found in hull structures and deck plating were so severe that maintenance of these will be very costly and from the economic point of view, renovating them into a dining vessel is not feasible.
