Irrawaddy Flotilla Company

[1][3] Soon, the company was carrying passengers, rice, government stores, and mail from Rangoon to Prome, Thayetmyo and Mandalay, and then extended in 1868 to Bhamo.

[2] Although registered in Glasgow, the operational headquarters were in Rangoon, with a major shipyard across the river at Dalla.

[2] The company's services became indispensable to the oil fields up river at Yenangyaung and Chauk for carrying supplies and heavy equipment.

[4] The ships, most of which were paddle steamers, were generally built in Scotland before being dismantled and transported to Burma for reassembly.

The paddle steamers of the IFC inspired the famous lines penned by Rudyard Kipling:

Seal of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company
Seal of Myanma Inland Water Transport
Former Irrawaddy Flotilla Company building in Yangon, which now houses the Inland Water Transport