After setting sail from Kolkata on Mar 31, cruise vessel RV Bengal Ganga has anchored at the southern Bangladesh city of Barishal on Wednesday (Apr 3).
With 19 passengers onboard, including foreign tourists, the ship operated by the Inland Water Authority of India (IWAI), arrived at the Barishal river terminal around 1.30pm.
After sailing off from Kolkata’s Khidirpur port, it travelled through the Sundarbans, Khulna's Aungtihara and Mongla to arrive Barishal.
Former IWAI chief Nutan Guha, one of the passengers of the ship, described the journey as pleasant. “We hope to take forward this initiative.”
RV Bengal Ganga’s owner Raz Singh said that they have plans to introduce more services on Kolkata-Dhaka and Gowhati-Dhaka routes.
After spending the night at Barishal, the cruise ship will sail for Dhaka via Chandpur and Narayanganj.
It’s then scheduled to traverse Mawa, Sirajganj and Kurigram’s Chilmari before entering India's northeastern state of Assam and stopping at Silghat near Guwahati.
Earlier on Mar 29, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC)-operated MV Madhumati left Narayanganj for Kolkata travelling along Barishal, Mongla and the Sundarbans.
The developments come against the backdrop of a standard operating procedure being finalised by shipping ministries of the two countries in October last year for the movement of passenger and cruise vessels along coastal and designated inland routes.
A steamer-based water transport had been in service during the British rule, connecting East and West Bengal and northeastern India using the Assam-Goalanda-Narayanganj-Kolkata-Elahabad route, which was halted after the 1947 partition.