Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday flagged off a barge carrying 540 metric tonnes of methanol from Bogibeel Terminal here for Pangaon Port in Dhaka, Bangladesh, marking the first international cargo shipment from upper Assam since Independence.

Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma joined the flag-off ceremony virtually.

The vessel DLB Patkai, pushed by tug Kushal Konwar, is carrying methanol produced by state-owned Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd (APCL) at Namrup. It will travel around 768 km along National Waterway-2 (NW-2) on the Brahmaputra to the India-Bangladesh border before proceeding through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route. The total journey from Bogibeel to Narayanganj in Dhaka is expected to cover around 1,300 km.

The voyage is being seen as a significant test of the Brahmaputra's potential as a commercially viable freight corridor connecting the Northeast with international markets. Regular methanol shipments to Bangladesh are also planned.

The movement of cargo has been facilitated by the establishment of customs and immigration facilities at Bogibeel and Dhubri.

"Today, a ship leaves Dibrugarh for the world once again. The river never failed us. What it lacked for decades was the will to revive it," Sonowal said, recalling Dibrugarh's historic river trade.

"The steamer whistle that fell silent in 1956 is heard again," he added.

Sarma described the occasion as a proud moment for Assam, saying the state's own product, manufactured at Namrup, was now travelling to an international market through Assam's own river.

"The Northeast is no longer a frontier. It is India's gateway to the East," the Chief Minister said.

Sonowal said the voyage marked only the beginning of a new chapter in Dibrugarh's riverine trade.

"This is the first voyage, not the last. To the youth of Assam I say: Dream with this river. The world is no longer far away. It is downstream," he said.

Dibrugarh was once one of the major river ports in eastern India. Government steamers reached the town from Calcutta, now Kolkata, by 1856, while the Dibru-Sadiya Railway began operating from the Dibrugarh steamer ghat in 1882. By 1913, steamers were sailing daily to Dibrugarh, carrying tea, timber and passengers.

The 1947 Partition disrupted the traditional river route, while the 1950 earthquake altered the riverbed around Dibrugarh. Regular bookings from Dibrugarh Ghat stopped in 1954 and the ghat was eventually closed on October 15, 1956, as tea transportation increasingly shifted to rail.

Cross-border river trade was further disrupted by the 1965 India-Pakistan war. India and Bangladesh signed a river trade protocol in 1972, while the 891-km stretch of the Brahmaputra from Sadiya to Dhubri was declared National Waterway-2 in 1988.

Regular cargo movement on NW-2 began only in December 2017, when cement was transported from Pandu to Dhubri.

River-based economic activity in the region has expanded since then. Tata Steel barges reached Pandu through Bangladesh in February 2022, while the river cruise vessel MV Ganga Vilas travelled from Varanasi to Dibrugarh through Bangladesh in 2023.

The Bogibeel passenger and cargo terminal, whose foundation stone was laid in July 2023, became operational in February 2024. The Jalvahak cargo incentive programme was launched in December 2024.

According to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, cargo movement on India's national waterways increased 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 waterways across the Northeast, including the development of NW-2, a ship repair facility at Pandu and last-mile connectivity to Pandu Port.

"Every ton we move on the river means less fuel burnt and fewer trucks on the highway," Sonowal said, adding that India was working with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar to strengthen regional waterway connectivity.

The historic shipment involved the Inland Waterways Authority of India, Assam Petro-Chemicals, Cochin Bunkers Pvt Ltd and partners in Bangladesh.

Assam ministers Charan Boro, Bimal Borah and Sushanta Borgohain, Rajya Sabha member Terash Gowalla, Dibrugarh MLA Prasanta Phukan and Khowang MLA Chakradhar Gogoi attended the event.

IWAI Chief Engineer A.K. Bansal and APCL Chairman Bikul Ch. Deka were also present, along with senior officials of APCL, IWAI and the Assam government.