The ports at Calcutta and Haldia have introduced a new shipping service through the inland waterways between Calcutta and Chittagong and Calcutta and Dhaka in Bangladesh, amid frequent disruptions of cross-border trade through the Petrapole-Benapole land ports.

“The M.V. Asiatic Moon is expected to carry 300 containers of Indian exports to Bangladesh in its maiden voyage. This is the biggest vessel by size to ply between Calcutta and Chittagong till date. It can carry up to 600 containers in a single voyage to Chittagong,” S. Balaji Arunkumar, deputy chairman of Calcutta Port, said on Friday.

Earlier on Tuesday, Haldia port officials, led by general manager (traffic) Abhay Mahapatra, had inaugurated Haldia port’s first international riverine operations to Dhaka’s Pongao port.

Officials had flagged off the 45-container carrier operated by Adani Ports and 5-Star Logistics carrying over 1,200 tonnes of cement, iron and metallics commissioned by a private steel company in Dhaka. The vessel was flagged off from the port’s 11th berth.

“This is the first time we are using a riverine route for an international cargo shipment. We are doing it with a view to promote riverine shipments among contractors. It is much safer than the highways,” said Mahapatra.

“It is also more cost effective,” Mahapatra said.

Officials said the permissions for the waterway route used on Tuesday had been granted a few years ago.

“There has been a growing demand for the waterways route particularly from Bangladesh’s textile fraternity. We are going to start encouraging other sectors to avail of this. It is a new horizon for our port,” Mahapatra said.