In the early years, the ships employed were wooden sailing vessels commonly built of teak. In 1861, however, when James Nourse entered this transportation field, his company began building iron sailing ships. Sandbach Tinne and Company, a rival shipping company, soon followed suit. By the 1880s, wooden sailing ships had been replaced almost entirely by iron sailing ships.

Simultaneous with the gradual passing of the wooden sailing ships, the world was turning from sail to steam, and the employment of steamships naturally came up for consideration. Although it was suggested in the 1860s that the use of the steamships to transport emigrants would be cheaper, that mortality rates would be significantly lower and that the duration of voyages would be significantly shorter than if sailing ships were used, only five steamships crossed the Kaalaa Paanii to British Guiana before the 1908-09 shipping season, making a total of seven trips.

The size of the ships employed increased as the years passed, since ship owners found the building of larger ships generally more economical. In the mid-19th century, sailing ships generally carried between 300 to 400 emigrants. For example, during the 1858-59 shipping season, the following eight vessels delivered 2720 emigrants: (1) Latona, 693 tons, 317; (2) Marchioness of Londonderry, 766 tons, 372; (3) York, 940 tons, 386; (4) Victor Emanuel, 955 tons, 358, (5) Plantagenet, 806 tons, 334; (6) Aurora, 536 tons, 234; (7) Ellenborough, 1031 tons, 352; and (8) Simla, 1444 tons, 367.

By the early 1870s, however, vessels of over 1000 tons and transporting between 400 and 500 were the norm, and this was illustrated by the fact that in the 1872-1873 shipping season, only two ships of 13 that sailed from India were below 1000 tons. These ships, the James Nourse-owned Ganges of 843 tons and the Gainsborough of 973 tons delivered 396 and 373 persons, respectively. The other ships landed between 403 (Trevelyan) and 561 persons (S.S.Enmore).

By the mid-1880s, heavier ships were transporting between 500 and 600 Indian emigrants. For example, during the 1883-84 shipping season the following five ships delivered 2731 emigrants: Bann, 1667 tons, 591: Foyle, 1598 tons, 564; British Peer, 1428 tons, 559; Ganges, 1443 tons, 490; and The Bruce, 1145 tons, 527.

By the early 1900s, ships were generally between 1400 and 1750 tons and routinely transported between 550 and 650 persons. With the increasing use of steamships after 1908, numbers transported per ship rose significantly to between 750 and 900 persons. For example, during the 1909-1910 shipping season the following three ships delivered 2508 emigrants: SS Sutlej; 2153 tons, 844; SS Ganges, 2151 tons, 847; and SS Indus, 2110 tons, 817.