A vessle containing cement was flagged off from the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP) for Sittwe Port in Myanmar. The opening of the route is expected to cut short the time taken in transiting the cargo from Kolkata port to the north-Eastern parts of the country including Assam, Mizoram and Meghalaya.
The inaugural run was flagged off by Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Shantanu Thakur from the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port here. A ship- MV-ITT LION (V-273) laden with 20,000 bags containing 1,000 metric tonnes of cement started for Sittwe Port from Kolkata.
Notably, Sittwe Port has been developed under a framework agreement between India and Myanmar for the construction and operation of a Multimodal Transit Transport Facility on Kaladan River (KMTTP). According to the SMP, the port has been built under grant assistance from the central government as part of KMTTP.
The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has worked as a project development consultant for the implementation of Port and IWT components of the project.
It connects the Sittwe port in Myanmar with the state of Mizoram in India. It is also a link to Paletwa in Myanmar through an inland waterway and from Paletwa to Zorinpui in Mizoram by road.
With the route becoming operational, the corridor will help in movement of cargo like steel, cement and construction materials to the state of Assam, Mizoram and Meghalaya in a shorter span of time.