A barge carrying 540 tonnes of methanol left Bogibeel Terminal at Dibrugarh in Assam on 5 October, bound for Bangladesh, India's Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said. The cargo was produced by state-owned Assam Petro-Chemicals.
According to the ministry, the shipment is heading toward the Dhaka area by way of the Brahmaputra's National Waterway-2 and the India–Bangladesh Protocol Route. The ministry described it as the first cargo voyage from upper Assam to a foreign port since Indian independence. Press Trust of India separately reported the vessel's departure.
The departure is a test of the river corridor's commercial potential; one shipment does not establish that a regular service is already operating. The ministry said the cargo is intended for Pangaon Port and that further shipments are planned.
Sources: Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (5 October 2026); Press Trust of India report via The Telegraph (5 October 2026).
Illustration disclosure: The accompanying image is an AI-generated editorial illustration of a generic river cargo barge. It is not a photograph of the actual vessel, methanol tanks or voyage.
