First Cargo Ship from Assam Sails to Dhaka Nearly 70 Years After Partition

A cargo ship carrying 540 metric tonnes of methanol has departed from the Bogibeel Terminal in Dibrugarh, Assam, for Dhaka via the Brahmaputra River. This marks the first direct movement of goods from Assam to an international port in nearly 70 years since the Partition of India in 1947.

According to a report by the Hindustan Times, India’s Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal formally inaugurated the historic waterway at a ceremony on Monday. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joined the event virtually. Several state ministers, lawmakers and dignitaries were also present.

The methanol, produced at the Namrup plant of state-owned Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited (APCL), is being transported to Dhaka’s Pangaon Inland Container Terminal in Bangladesh.

The vessel will travel around 768 kilometres along National Waterway-2 of the Brahmaputra to reach the India-Bangladesh border. It will then follow the India-Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBPR) to reach its final destination. The cargo vessel will cover a total waterway distance of around 1,300 kilometres from Bogibeel to Narayanganj.

The voyage is being viewed primarily as a trial to assess the commercial viability of the Brahmaputra as a trade route connecting northeastern India with international markets.

Speaking at the event, Sarbananda Sonowal said their grandparents had grown up hearing the whistles of steamers at Dibrugarh Ghat, but the route had remained inactive for 70 years. He said ships had once again begun sailing from Dibrugarh towards the world, adding that the river had never failed them and that what was lacking was the political will to revive it.

Dibrugarh was once one of the busiest river ports in eastern India.

By 1856, government steamers from what was then Calcutta had begun reaching Dibrugarh. In 1882, the Dibru-Sadiya Railway was launched from Dibrugarh Steamer Ghat. By 1913, steamers carrying tea, timber and passengers operated daily from the ghat.

However, the Partition of 1947 disrupted the historic waterway. As a result, Assam’s goods had to rely on routes through Bangladesh to reach Kolkata. The devastating earthquake of 1950 subsequently altered the riverbed around Dibrugarh. As tea transportation gradually shifted to railways, regular booking services from Dibrugarh Ghat were discontinued in 1954, and the ghat was completely closed on October 15, 1956.

Years later, after Bangladesh became independent, India and Bangladesh signed a Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade in 1972. In 1988, an 891-kilometre stretch of the Brahmaputra from Sadiya to Dhubri was declared National Waterway-2.