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History
The Road To Mandalay has been created by
Venice Simplon-Orient-Express from the old river-cruiser
'MS Nederland'/'Elbresidenz', operated by Koln-Dusseldorfer
(KD). She was originally built as the "Orient-Express"
of the river cruise world, to the highest standards of the
1960s. The vessel made her maiden voyage on 6th July 1964
and following a period as a floating hotel in Dresden was
purchased by Sea Containers in 1994.
The ship underwent a major refurbishment
programme at Lauenberg /Hamburg at a cost of US$6 million.
Designer Jenny Maclean supervised the refurbishment and
redecoration of all interior spaces. Fourteen State cabins
were created by combining two smaller cabins. The air-conditioning
was upgraded, a new sewage treatment plant was installed
to preserve the purity of the Ayeyarwady River, and the
engine room was upgraded.
The ship was then taken to Myanmar
on a specialist transporting ship (Condock IV) all the way
from Hamburg in Germany to Yangon in Myanmar, through the
Suez Canal, arriving a month later.
The first commercial sailing of RTM
was on 27 December 1995.
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