New route opened for Bangladesh-India cargo transport

A new sea route for shipping cargos between Bangladesh and India has been opened with flagging off a RORO ship carrying 185 trucks from Chennai Port to Mongla Port.

Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari digitally flagged off the ship from Chennai Port on Saturday, according to a release of the Ministry of Shipping, India.

Inaugurating the new route, the minister said that cargo transport by sea would save 15-20 days of travel time compared to the traditional shipment through road.

He also said that Ashok Leyland used to ship vehicles to Bangladesh by road, which required travelling a distance of about 1500 kilometers.

"For this trip alone that involves transport of 185 trucks, a total of about 3 lakh vehicle kilometers of road travel will be saved as the land route is longer and much time is lost at the congested Petrapole-Benapole check point at the Bangladesh-India border," the minister said.

He called upon all automobile manufactures to use coastal shipping mode for transporting their vehicles.

Bangladesh and India signed a coastal shipping agreement during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka in June, 2015.

Source: BSS