The ship floated idly in the sea for four days after being caught in bureaucratic red-tape, survived storms and overcame other obstacles that the crew declined to share. 

But no one would complain about these issues as MV Newtek-6 reached Ashuganj from Kolkata in 12 days, considering the positive changes transhipment would bring about on both the sides of the Indo-Bangla border.

The Bangladeshi ship owned by Zed Shipping Lines Ltd carried a consignment of 1,000 tonnes of iron rods in the first-even transhipment of goods from the mainland of India to its northeastern states through Bangladesh.

The facility that the government pledged to India last year would reduce the time and cost needed for supplying goods to those states through the Indian territory. 

Preparations were underway yesterday at the jetty ghat of Ashuganj port on the bank of the Meghna river to unload the goods.  

The unloading will take place today through an inaugural ceremony in the presence of ministers, lawmakers, senior government officials and top diplomats of the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, said Rafiqul Islam, additional director of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA).  

The goods will then be loaded onto trucks to carry those across the border through Akhaura checkpoint. They will travel another 32 kilometres to deliver the consignment to warehouses in Tripura. 

Ashuganj port requires a jetty with high capacity to handle large volumes of goods expected under the arrangement, BIWTA officials said.  And so a new jetty has been constructed for unloading and then loading of goods.

A makeshift customs office has also been set up.  

Rafiqul could not say immediately when trucks with Indian goods will set out for Akhaura.

Twenty trucks will carry the goods to Agartola, capital of Tripura, 80km from Ashuganj.  They will make several trips to deliver the whole consignment, which will take four to five days, said Mahmud-ur Rahman Siddiqui, general manager of Anbis Development Ltd, a Bangladeshi operator that hired MV Newtek-6 to carry the goods from Kolkata to Ashuganj.

Rakib Transport, a local transport company, has been given the charge of mobilising trucks.

The first consignment reached Ashuganj on Tuesday. The ship started from Khidirpur port in Kolkata on June 3 and reached Khulna's Angtihara, the first checkpoint on the Bangladesh side, on June 7, said Mirajul Islam, master of the ship.

The port's customs officials told the crew to go to Khulna to deposit the transhipment fees, amounting to Tk 130,574, with the office of the National Board of Revenue there and get clearance.

Ripon Sheikh, supervisor of the ship, travelled by trawler, motor bike and then bus for nine hours to deposit the fee. He made another nine-hour journey back. 

The vessel remained moored at Angtihara the whole time and finally set out for Ashuganj on June 11 with the clearance.

Altogether, it took 12 days to reach Ashuganj, said Mirajul who along with 12 others went to Kolkata to bring the consignment.

"We did not know that we would have to deposit any fee," said the ship master, referring to the transhipment charge made effective on May 25.

"We will be able to avoid the delay from next trips."

Both the countries will reap the benefits of the new arrangement, Rafiqul of the BIWTA said.

India's cost of carrying goods from Kolkata will be less because of transhipment arrangement while Bangladeshi ships and trucks will be engaged in carrying them, he explained. 

At present, trucks from Kolkata travel around 1,600km to reach Agartala. The distance through Bangladesh would be only 500km, according to experts and businesspeople.

The cost of transporting goods to Agartala from Kolkata is $67 per tonne and it takes 30 days, said SK Mahfuz Hamid, a member of the Bangladeshi team negotiating an agreement on transhipment with the Indian side. 

The same consignment would take around 10 days to reach Tripura from Kolkata via Ashuganj at a cost of $40 per tonne, according to operators.

Akhaura is expected to be one of the main doorways of the trade corridor between the neighbouring countries.  

Locals said transhipment would boost trade activity.

"Our people will get more scopes to work and earn," said Omar Faruq, a boatman near the jetty in Ashuganj.

To make transhipment a reality, the two countries signed a revised river protocol in Dhaka in June last year.

The transhipment fee has been set at Tk 192.25 per tonne, said Mofizur Rahman, director (traffic) of the BIWTA. Apart from the regular fee, India would have to pay other charges.

If Bangladesh provides security for consignments, India will pay an additional Tk 50 for each tonne of goods from Ashuganj to Akhaura, Mofizur said.

On a trial basis, India used the route to bring a consignment of iron rods to Agartala three years ago. At Delhi's request, Dhaka also allowed India to carry heavy machinery through the route to Palatana power plant in Tripura.

Though the transhipment facility has already been given through Ashuganj, the port there does not have the infrastructure ready yet, according to BIWTA officials.

Bangladesh spent around Tk 10 crore from its own funds to provide the facility, they said.