Archive · 6 Oct 2026
First Dibrugarh-Bangladesh Cargo Voyage Revives Brahmaputra Trade
A cargo vessel called DLB Patkai has left Dibrugarh carrying 540 tonnes of methanol to Bangladesh.
The methanol was made in Namrup, Assam.
Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off the vessel from Bogibeel Terminal, and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joined virtually.
The vessel will travel on the Brahmaputra and then join a river route shared by India and Bangladesh.
It is headed for Pangaon Port in Dhaka, and the full journey to Narayanganj is about 1,300 kilometres.
This is described as the first cargo shipment from Upper Assam to a foreign port since Independence.
The trip revives river trade from Dibrugarh, whose ghat stopped regular operations decades ago.
Officials hope the voyage will show how rivers can help move goods between the Northeast and other markets.
Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off the DLB Patkai from Bogibeel Terminal, carrying 540 metric tonnes of methanol.
The shipment is described as the first cargo movement from Upper Assam to a foreign port since India’s 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 kilometres on National Waterway-2 before joining the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route; the total journey to Narayanganj is about 1,300 kilometres.
Officials say customs and immigration facilities at Bogibeel and Dhubri enabled the voyage, which will test the Brahmaputra’s potential as a freight corridor.
- Who
- Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off the vessel; Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joined virtually.
- What
- The DLB Patkai set sail carrying 540 metric tonnes of methanol from Dibrugarh to Bangladesh.
- When
- October 5, 2026, according to one article.
- Where
- It departed Bogibeel Terminal in Dibrugarh, Assam, bound for Pangaon Port in Dhaka via National Waterway-2 and the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route.
- Why
- The voyage revives river trade from Dibrugarh and is intended to test the Brahmaputra’s potential as a commercial freight corridor.
- Cargo
- 540 metric tonnes of methanol
- Vessel
- DLB Patkai, pushed by tug Kushal Konwar
- Departure
- Bogibeel Terminal, Dibrugarh
- Producer
- Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited, Namrup
- Destination
- Pangaon Port in Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Route
- About 768 km on National Waterway-2, then the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route
- Total distance
- About 1,300 km from Bogibeel to Narayanganj
- Enabling facilities
- Customs and immigration complexes at Bogibeel and Dhubri
