Cargo container flagged off from Haldia

For the first time ever, a cargo vessel will be sailing through the River Brahmaputra, national waterway-2 and take a step forward in the Northeast’s inland waterway. Cargo vessels generally sail on high seas, but it is happening for the first time in the Northeast through Brahmaputra. A cargo vessel carrying a consignment of 53 TEUs (amount of cargo) which includes petrochemicals, edible oil and beverage was flagged off by shipping secretary Gopal Krishna from Haldia. This vessel will travel a distance of 1,425 Km and sail through national waterway 1 -Ganga, national waterway 97-Sunderban, Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route and finally national waterway-2 –Brahmaputra. An Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) official said, “The first time a container cargo vessel sailed on a river in the country was last year on Ganga (national waterway 1). Now this is happening for the first time in the Northeast through Brahmaputra. Container movement is something that happens on high seas. On Indian rivers, this is very new and of course first on national waterway 2”. Another official said, “The container movement is going to boost the confidence of private players in using the national waterway 2 in particular for ferrying goods to the region, primarily because of the safety of goods and easy handling of them”. Using inland waterway as a means of connectivity will reduce logistics cost and improve trade competitiveness of Northeast.