A cargo vessel carrying 540 metric tonnes of methanol has set sail from the Bogibeel terminal in Dibrugarh, Assam, for Dhaka via the Brahmaputra River, marking the resumption of direct cargo movement from Assam to an international port after nearly seven decades.
The methanol, produced at the Namrup plant of state-owned Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited, is being transported to Bangladesh’s Pangaon Inland Container Terminal in Dhaka.
The vessel will travel about 768 kilometres along India’s National Waterway-2 to the India-Bangladesh border before continuing along the India-Bangladesh Protocol Route. The total river journey from Bogibeel to Narayanganj is expected to cover about 1,300 kilometres.
The voyage is being viewed as a trial to assess the commercial viability of the Brahmaputra as a trade route connecting northeastern India with international markets.
Indian Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal formally flagged off the vessel at a ceremony on Monday. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joined the event virtually, while several state ministers, lawmakers and other officials attended.
Dibrugarh was once one of eastern India’s major river ports. Government steamers were reaching the port from Kolkata by 1856, while regular steamer services later transported tea, timber and passengers.
The Partition of India in 1947 disrupted the traditional waterways connecting Assam with the wider region. The route subsequently declined further after a major earthquake in 1950 altered the riverbed near Dibrugarh and tea transportation increasingly shifted to railways.
Regular bookings from Dibrugarh’s steamer ghat ended in 1954, and the terminal was completely closed on October 15, 1956.
Following Bangladesh’s independence, India and Bangladesh signed a protocol on inland water trade in 1972, laying the groundwork for renewed river connectivity between the two countries.
In 1988, an 891-kilometre stretch of the Brahmaputra from Sadiya to Dhubri was declared National Waterway-2.
