2 hrs ago
First Dibrugarh Shipment to Bangladesh Revives Assam River Trade
A cargo boat has left Dibrugarh carrying 540 tonnes of methanol to Bangladesh.
The methanol was made in Namrup, Assam.
The boat started its trip at Bogibeel Terminal.
It will travel along the Brahmaputra and then use a route shared by India and Bangladesh.
The full journey to Narayanganj is about 1,300 kilometres.
The trip is the first shipment from Dibrugarh to a foreign destination since Independence.
Officials hope it will show whether the river can be used more for carrying goods.
New customs and immigration facilities helped make the shipment possible.
Union shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off a vessel carrying 540 metric tonnes of methanol from Dibrugarh to Bangladesh.
The departure from Bogibeel Terminal is described as the first shipment from Dibrugarh to a foreign destination since Independence.
The methanol was produced by Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited at Namrup and is bound for Pangaon Port in Dhaka.
The vessel will travel about 768 km on National Waterway-2 before joining the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route; the journey to Narayanganj is about 1,300 km.
Officials said the shipment was enabled by customs and immigration complexes at Bogibeel and Dhubri and will test the Brahmaputra's freight potential.
- Who
- Union shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off the vessel; Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joined virtually.
- What
- A vessel carrying 540 metric tonnes of methanol set sail from Dibrugarh for Bangladesh.
- Where
- It departed Bogibeel Terminal in Dibrugarh, Assam, bound for Pangaon Port in Dhaka; the journey to Narayanganj is about 1,300 km.
- When
- Monday; the article does not specify a date.
- Why
- The shipment revives Dibrugarh's river trade and is being viewed as a test of the Brahmaputra's potential as a commercial freight corridor.
Key facts
- Cargo
- 540 metric tonnes of methanol
- Vessel
- DLB Patkai
- Departure terminal
- Bogibeel Terminal, Dibrugarh
- Producer
- Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited, Namrup
- Destination port
- Pangaon Port, Dhaka
- Distance to Narayanganj
- About 1,300 km from Bogibeel
- River route
- About 768 km on National Waterway-2 before joining the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route
Quotes
Sarbananda Sonowal
Union shipping minister who flagged off the cargo vessel.
“Our grandparents grew up hearing the steamer whistle at Dibrugarh Ghat. For 70 years, that whistle fell silent, and the ships stopped coming.”
telegraphindia.com
“The world is no longer far away for us... It is downstream”
telegraphindia.com
Sources
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