Dibrugarh sends first international cargo shipment to Bangladesh since Independence

Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday flagged off the cargo vessel DLB Patkai carrying 540 metric tonnes of methanol from Dibrugarh’s Bogibeel Terminal to Dhaka, marking the first cargo shipment from Upper Assam to a foreign port since Independence. The voyage also revives Dibrugarh’s river trade nearly 70 years after its historic river ghat ceased operations.

The methanol, produced by state-owned Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited (APCL) at Namrup, is headed for Pangaon Port in Dhaka. The vessel will travel around 768 km along National Waterway-2 on the Brahmaputra before reaching the India-Bangladesh border and continuing through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route. The total journey from Bogibeel to Narayanganj is expected to cover about 1,300 km.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joined the flag-off ceremony virtually. Sonowal described the voyage as the revival of a river route whose steamer operations fell silent decades ago and urged Assam’s youth to view the Brahmaputra as a source of economic opportunity.

The voyage is being seen as a test of the Brahmaputra’s potential as a commercially viable freight corridor connecting the Northeast with overseas markets. Officials said regular methanol shipments to Bangladesh are planned.

The movement was facilitated by the recent establishment of customs and immigration complexes at Bogibeel and Dhubri. The government is also developing inland-waterway infrastructure across the Northeast, with the aim of making river transport a more efficient alternative for bulk cargo movement.

The government has indicated that another cargo vessel is expected to follow in the coming days, with the two vessels together scheduled to transport 1,080 tonnes of APCL-produced methanol to Bangladesh.

with inputs from PTI