Dibrugarh: A barge carrying 540 metric tonnes of methanol left Bogibeel Terminal in Dibrugarh for Bangladesh on Monday, marking the first international cargo shipment from upper Assam to a foreign port since Independence.Union minister of ports, shipping and waterways Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off the vessel DLB Patkai, pushed by the tug Kushal Konwar, while CM Himanta Biswa Sarma joined the event virtually.The methanol, produced by Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd (APCL) at Namrup, is bound for Pangaon Port in Dhaka. The vessel will travel along National Waterway-2 on Brahmaputra to the India-Bangladesh border before continuing through Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route, covering nearly 1,300 km to Narayanganj.Sonowal described the voyage as a revival of Dibrugarh’s historic river trade, recalling how steamer whistles once echoed along the ghat. “For 70 years, that whistle fell silent. Today, a ship leaves Dibrugarh for the world once again,” he said, calling it the start of regular cargo movement from the region to Bangladesh and beyond.Sarma hailed the occasion as a proud moment for Assam, noting that both the product and the waterway connecting it to the global market were from the state. “Assam’s own product, made in Namrup, is now travelling to an international market on Assam’s own river,” he said.The shipment follows the establishment of customs and immigration facilities at Bogibeel and Dhubri, enabling international cargo movement through inland waterways.Once a major river port, Dibrugarh’s steamer services ceased in 1956 after Partition and the 1950 earthquake altered the riverbed. The revival began with the declaration of National Waterway-2 in 1988, and regular cargo movement resumed in 2017. Bogibeel terminal, whose foundation was laid in 2023, became operational in Feb 2024.The voyage is seen as a test of Brahmaputra’s commercial viability as a freight corridor linking the Northeast with overseas markets. Cargo movement on India’s waterways has surged from 18 million tonnes in 2013-14 to 218 million tonnes in 2025-26, with over Rs 6,800 crore invested in the northeast’s waterway infrastructure.The event was attended by ministers, legislators, and officials of IWAI, APCL, and Assam govt.
