MV Ganga Vilas cruise ship to leave Kolkata on Monday for Sundarbans

Touted as the world's longest river cruise, MV Ganga Vilas, has been docked at a Kolkata jetty and will on Monday leave for Sundarbans, a UNESCO heritage site, an official said.

The cruise vessel, flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 13, entered West Bengal early this week through Murshidabad and later reached Kolkata, he said.

The ship has been docked at the Indenture Memorial (IM) Jetty on the bank of the Hooghly river.

"The vessel will leave Kolkata on Monday and then it will be anchored at Sundarbans, one of the largest mangrove forests in the world and a UNESCO world heritage site, for two days," the official said.

Taking to Twitter, Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said, "The next phase of journey of MV #GangaVilas will be on the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route, as it travels through B'desh (Bangladesh) to reach Assam. All infra has been provided at IM Jetty itself for a smooth immigration process for passengers."

MV Ganga Vilas began its journey from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh on January 13 and would travel around 3,200 km in 51 days to reach Dibrugarh in Assam via Bangladesh, sailing across 27 river systems in India and the neighbouring country.

Tourists, who are travelling on the maiden journey of the cruise, had a visit to Kumartuli, an idol-making hub in Kolkata on Saturday.

"A city tour was planned for the passengers so that they can experience local culture," the official added.