Nearly 70 years after regular cargo operations from Dibrugarh’s river ghat came to an end, a vessel carrying 540 metric tonnes of methanol set sail from the Bogibeel Terminal for Bangladesh on Monday, marking the first international cargo shipment from Upper Assam since Independence.
Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off the vessel DLB Patkai, which is being pushed by the tug Kushal Konwar, while Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joined the ceremony virtually. The methanol was manufactured by state-owned Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited (APCL) at Namrup and is destined for Pangaon Port in Dhaka.
1,300-km river journey
The vessel will travel around 768 km along National Waterway-2 on the Brahmaputra before reaching the India-Bangladesh border. From there, it will continue through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route, with the overall journey from Bogibeel to Narayanganj in the Dhaka region covering around 1,300 km.
The voyage is more than a symbolic revival of Dibrugarh’s riverine past. Authorities are treating it as a test of whether the Brahmaputra can become a commercially viable freight corridor connecting industries in Upper Assam with overseas markets through Bangladesh. Regular shipments of methanol to Bangladesh are planned if the route proves operationally and commercially sustainable.
Steamer whistle returns
Dibrugarh once occupied an important place on the river trade map of eastern India. Government steamers had begun reaching the town from Calcutta, now Kolkata, by 1856, while the Dibru-Sadiya Railway started operations from Dibrugarh’s steamer ghat in 1882. By 1913, steamers were travelling up the Brahmaputra to Dibrugarh daily, carrying tea, timber, passengers and other goods.
Partition in 1947 fundamentally altered the region’s transport geography by disrupting Assam’s traditional routes through what became East Pakistan. The 1950 Assam earthquake also affected the riverbed around Dibrugarh, while the increasing movement of tea by rail reduced dependence on river transport. Regular bookings from Dibrugarh Ghat stopped in 1954 and the ghat finally closed on October 15, 1956.
The India-Pakistan war of 1965 subsequently suspended cross-border river trade. India and Bangladesh signed the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade after Bangladesh’s independence, creating a framework that would eventually allow vessels from the two countries to use specified river routes.
‘First voyage, not last’
Recalling Dibrugarh’s maritime history, Sonowal said generations had grown up hearing the sound of steamers at the town’s river ghat before the service disappeared for decades. The departure of an international cargo vessel, he said, marked the restoration of a connection that had once been central to the economy of the region.
“This is the first voyage, not the last,” Sonowal said, arguing that Assam’s river system could once again become an economic route connecting the Northeast with international markets.
Sarma described the shipment as a significant moment for Assam, pointing out that a product manufactured within the state was now travelling to an overseas market using the Brahmaputra itself.
Bogibeel gets global role
The shipment has been made possible by the development of infrastructure at Bogibeel, including customs and immigration facilities. The Bogibeel passenger and cargo terminal, whose foundation stone was laid in July 2023, became operational in February 2024.
The terminal is intended to give Upper Assam a direct connection to National Waterway-2 and, through Bangladesh, to ports and markets farther downstream. The government’s Jalvahak cargo promotion scheme, launched in December 2024, is also intended to encourage businesses to shift part of their freight from road and rail to inland waterways.
The current shipment involved the Inland Waterways Authority of India, Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited, Cochin Bunkers Pvt Ltd and partners in Bangladesh.
Brahmaputra freight grows
The Brahmaputra stretch from Sadiya to Dhubri, covering 891 km, was declared National Waterway-2 in 1988. Commercial use has expanded more visibly in recent years, including movement of cargo between Assam and other parts of India through Bangladesh.
In February 2022, Tata Steel cargo reached Pandu in Guwahati through the India-Bangladesh Protocol Route. In 2023, the MV Ganga Vilas river cruise travelled from Varanasi to Dibrugarh through Bangladesh, demonstrating the potential for seamless navigation between the Ganga and Brahmaputra river systems.
Cargo movement across India’s national waterways has risen sharply, from 18 million metric tonnes in 2013-14 to 218 million metric tonnes in 2025-26. More than Rs 6,800 crore is being invested in waterway infrastructure across the Northeast, including National Waterway-2, a ship-repair facility at Pandu and improved last-mile connectivity to Pandu Port.
New route for Assam products
The significance of the Bogibeel-Dhaka route could extend beyond methanol if regular operations prove viable. Petroleum and petrochemical products, coal, tea and agricultural produce from Upper Assam are among the cargo categories that could potentially use the waterway.
Products such as Kaji Nemu, bhut jolokia and black pepper could also benefit if reliable cargo services provide exporters with an additional route to markets outside the region. For industries around Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and other parts of Upper Assam, the river could offer an alternative to moving every consignment over long distances by road or rail.
Water transport can also offer advantages for bulk cargo because vessels can carry larger loads with comparatively lower fuel consumption. Its commercial competitiveness, however, will depend on factors including navigable depth, predictable sailing schedules, terminal handling, customs procedures and reliable return cargo.
Gateway to the East
India is also seeking stronger regional waterway links with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. For the Northeast, such connectivity could reduce the disadvantages created by geography and provide alternative access to ports and markets through neighbouring countries.
The maiden methanol shipment will therefore be closely watched for more than its historical significance. If the Bogibeel-Dhaka service becomes regular, Dibrugarh could regain part of the commercial role it held before Partition, this time through modern terminals, containerised cargo and international protocol routes.
For Assam, the departure of DLB Patkai marks the return of international cargo movement to a river that once carried the region’s tea, timber and other goods to distant markets. Nearly seven decades after Dibrugarh Ghat fell silent, the Brahmaputra is again carrying a locally manufactured product from Upper Assam towards an overseas destination.