A new sea route between Bangladesh and India was inaugurated on Saturday, by sailing a RORO ship carrying 185 trucks from Chennai Port to Mongla Port.
India’s Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari digitally flagged off the ship from Chennai Port.
Nitin said the cargo through sea route would save at least 15-20 days time compared to road transport.
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 (300,000) 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, reports BSS citing a release of the Ministry of Shipping, India.
Bangladesh and India signed a coastal shipping agreement during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka in June, 2015.