Kolkata, Sep 30 (PTI) Built eight decades ago by a British company, a paddle steamer started its journey once again as a heritage cruise on the Hooghly river on Friday, after it was restored and modernised.

The heritage vessel, 'PS Bhopal', the first of its kind in the Indian subcontinent, was unveiled in its new avatar before the Durga Puja festival by the Kolkata Port, now called Syama Prasad Mookherjee Port (SMP).

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"This vessel which faced near death situation is now revived for the next 25 years. The main idea is to offer the ship to a private operator for its proper maintenance which had many challenges," port chairman Vinit Kumar said.

The renovated steamer which houses a marine museum on its lower deck with artefacts from across the country was thrown open for the public from the Man-of-War jetty in central Kolkata.

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It also has an AC hall with Burma teak and an open area on the top deck.

Jaswant Singhee of Eastern Navigation, the private partner that refurbished the vessel for Rs 6 crore, thanked the port authorities to be part of this unique project to restore the only historic paddle ship in the country.

The basic structure of the vessel has not been altered except that new main engines with propulsion have been installed so that it can sail on the river with passengers on board to give them a feel of the ship when it was built in 1944.

The vessel was constructed by William Denny & Company in 1944 at Dumbarton Shipyard in Scotland for the India General Navigation and Railway Company during British rule in India. The Paddle Steamer has a length of around 63 meters and a breadth of 9.2 meters.

'PS Bhopal' was part of a flotilla of steamers that were brought from the UK and deployed mostly on rivers of the undivided Bengal to pull cargo boats.

The paddle ship which had two large paddles on either side driven by steam engines had sailed on the Hooghly river for years before it was turned into a training ship.

As the lease agreement of 'PS Bhopal' with the training institute ended in 2019, the port authorities wanted to refurbish the vessel as it has heritage value, the SMP said.

It was then in a dilapidated condition and did not have its own propulsion. A long-term lease was signed after selecting a private party through open tendering with the condition that the vessel would remain the property of the SMP throughout the lease period.

As per the lease condition, 'PS Bhopal' will remain in the river moored adjacent to the shore or jetty, the SMP said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)