Pandaw are delighted to announce the acquisition of a classic motor yacht that will be deployed on the coasts of South-East Asia to explore little known cruising areas up till now virtually unknown to travellers and filled with marvels to see and do.
The Andaman Explorer was built as the MV Atlantic Guard in 1963 in Norway as a Norwegian coast guard vessel. She is 61 meters long with her original Rolls Royce engines. The hull is built to ‘ice class’ with extra thick plates and she has the power to withstand north Atlantic storms or chases out to sea. Very handy when cruising in tropical waters!
She retired from coast guard duties in 1998 and was acquired by one Doctor Bogazzi, anItalian oligarch whose family owns the Carrara marble quarries. Dr Bogazzi lavished many a million on the ship, now renamed the MY Marina, completely refitting her with eleven very generous suites and a Jacuzzi on deck. Much of the ship is floored with Carrara marble, pleasantly cool under foot for those who go unshod.
In recent times she has belonged to a powerful shipping family based in Dubai who maintained the ship to a very high standard. Right now she is on her way from Dubai to Rangoon where she will be redecorated and refurnished in Pandaw style. A fuller refit will follow in 2017.
The Andaman Explorer really is a sixties classi
c. The sort of plaything associated with Onassis, Jackie Kennedy and more glamorous times. There could be no vessel more appropriate for the exploration of South-East Asia’s unknown coasts. Paul Strachan, Pandaw’s founder, has been searching for such a ship for several years and inspected various vessel in Greece and Croatia that were not quite suitable. Paul believes this is the perfect ship for what we want to do.
Each suite consists of a sitting room, bedroom and marble (of course) bathroom. There is a saloon, indoor dining room and two teak decks aft, the lower for outdoor dining and the upper with a Jacuzzi for lounging. There is also a forward observation deck below the bridge. The ship comes with two RIB tenders for excursions to islands and beaches.
We plan an informal recce cruise between Rangoonand Ranong in Thailand in February. If you would like to join this please register with us now. As with all recces itwill be a haphazard unplanned voyage so this is not for people who want to know what is happening next! If you are up for it let us know and we will get back in touch with firm dates and costs.
From June to September 2016 we will start our first of
ficial voyages out of Bali exploring Indonesian coastal waters: Lombok, Sumbawa, Komodo Islands and Flores. These are areas of exquisite beauty with an astonishing biodiversity, not to mention cultural life ashore.
From October 2016 to April 2017 we will offer cruises on Burma coast between Ranong and Rangoon, a fascinating cruise area that includes the Mergui Archipelago and old colonial seaports like Moulmein.
To register for the recce cruise Burma-Thailand February 2016 email angela@pandaw.com
SOURCE: Pandaw Cruises