Overview
- Union Ports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off the vessel DLB Patkai on Monday, October 5, carrying 540 tonnes of methanol produced by Assam Petro‑Chemicals Ltd at Namrup in 27 ISO tanks and pushed by tug Kushal Konwar.
- Event organisers said a second similar vessel is expected within days so the two sailings would move about 1,080 tonnes of methanol to Pangaon/Narayanganj in Dhaka.
- The movement was enabled by recently installed customs and immigration complexes at Bogibeel and Dhubri and coordinated by the Inland Waterways Authority of India with commercial partners including Cochin Bunkers and Bangladeshi counterparts.
- Officials framed the voyage as a commercial proof‑of‑concept for National Waterway‑2 and the Indo‑Bangladesh Protocol Route, arguing river freight will cut logistics cost, lower fuel use and replace many road tanker trips — officials said one 540‑tonne voyage equals roughly 18 land tanker trips.
- Dibrugarh’s restart of cross‑border river cargo revives a route silenced after Partition and a 1950s ghat closure and sits atop recent investments such as the operational Bogibeel terminal, the Jalvahak incentive scheme, and broader Northeast waterways spending that aim to expand exports of petrochemicals, tea and other goods.