Longest Vessel Ever Sails Brahmaputra
GUWAHATI (IANS) – Aiming to remove connectivity hitch and transportation bottleneck in the northeastern region, the Inland Waterways Authority of India is focusing on waterways via Bangladesh with the longest vessel ever sailing on Brahmaputra on Mar.15 after completing cargo movement from Haldia (near Kolkata) via the India Bangladesh Protocol Route.
The 90-metre-long vessel, MV Ram Prasad Bismil, along with two barges, DB Kalpana Chawla and DB APJ Abdul Kalam, carrying 1,793 metric tons of steel rods, successfully completed the pilot run by moving heavy cargo from Haldia dock to Pandu Port near Guwahati.
An official said a landmark had been achieved when the MV Ram Prasad Bismil became the longest vessel ever to sail on the Brahmaputra.
The 90-metre-long flotilla is 26-metre wide, loaded with a draft of 2.1-metre.
The consignment — 1,793 MT of steel rods from Tata Steel, Jamshedpur — had a draft requirement of 2 metres. The engineering marvel of this consignment remains at maintaining the minimum navigational draft of at least 2 metres, especially at critical stretches like the Sirajganj-Daikowa stretch of IBPR.
