Longest vessel ever to sail on Brahmaputra river anchors at Pandu port

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways achieved a landmark on Tuesday when Ram Prasad Bismil became the longest vessel ever to sail on Brahmaputra river. The 90 meters long flotilla is 26 meters wide, loaded with a draft of 2.1 meters. With this, it successfully completed the aspiring pilot run of heavy cargo movement from Haldia Dock in Kolkata after it anchored at Pandu port here in Guwahati today. 

The vessel along with two barges - DB Kalpana Chawla and DB APJ Abdul Kalam - were flagged off from the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in Haldia by the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (PSW) and AYUSH, Sarbananda Sonowal flagged them off on 16 February 2022.

Expressing gratitude on this watershed moment of the economic history of Assam, the Union Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, added, "For the people of Assam, the Brahmaputra is the lifeline

The significance of this pilot run lays down the path for commencement of barging operation from Kolkata to Guwahati via Indo Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBRP). The consignment - loaded with 1,793 MT of Steel rods from Tata Steel in Jamshedpur - had a requirement of a draft of 2.0 meters. The engineering marvel of this historic consignment remains at maintaining the minimum navigational draft of at least 2.0 meters, especially at critical stretches like the Sirajganj - Daikowa stretch of IBPR.

The Government of India along with the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh funded the dredging of this stretch - with an 80:20 ratio respectively - for seamless navigation. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) as well as Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) worked together so that this historic cargo movement can move smoothly.

Speaking from Delhi, the Union Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal said, "The vision of our Prime Minister Narendra Modiji is to energise the Ashtalakshmi potential of Northeast to power the growth engine of India. Under his vision of 'Transformation through Transportation,' we worked tirelessly to rejuvenate the water transport in the region. This is not only the cheapest & ecologically most adapt mode of transportation, it also allows the long awaited connect for the business of Northeast through the marine network with the rest of the world". 

Expressing gratitude on this watershed moment of the economic history of Assam,,Sonowal, said, "For the people of Assam, the Brahmaputra is the lifeline. This was understood by the Prime Minister which is why he envisioned shaping the growth of this ecologically sensitive region via a medium that is widespread, economic & environment friendly".