History

In 1885, before the third Anglo-burman War, the British Comandeered the fleet.

A 3km line of vessels stretched below the upper and lower Myanmar border at Minhla. Some of the vessels, measuring 93m long with a 12m beam, a deck capacity of 3,000 passengers and cargo weighing 500 tons, took upper Myanmar in 1886. The Irrawaddy Flotilla Company became 'the greatest river fleet on earth'. By 1930, there were 602 vessels carrying 9 million people.