Cruise line from Kolkata to Guwahati via Bangladesh to come up soon

Very soon, you will be able to enjoy a cruise journey from Kolkata to Guwahati via Bangladesh. As per the latest news reports, India and Bangladesh agreed to explore options to enable passengers and cruise vessels travel between Kolkata and Guwahati via Dhaka. Reportedly, there was a successful trial movement of cargo to Bangladesh recently, which prompted one of the cruise operators to decide on starting cruise operations in the near future, i.e., likely from March 2019.
Gopal Krishna, secretary of Shipping Ministry, informed that the two countries have come to an understanding which, through a standard operating procedure (SOP), will be looking out for options that will facilitate the movement of cruise vessels and passengers on Inland Protocol route and coastal shipping route.

Senior officials in the know-how of this development stated that the vessels and ships will start their trip from Kolkata and reach Guwahati via Haldia in Bengal to Barisal and Dhaka in Bangladesh. If this is elaborated in technical terms, this translates to route 1 & 2 and 3 & 4 protocol route.
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), under the support of Shipping Ministry, has taken the responsibility to facilitate the passenger cruise line on National Waterways-2. IWAI Chairman Pravir Pandey stated Ganga will be connected to the Brahmaputra via Indo-Bangladesh protocol route. He further elaborated that the cruise line will be connecting three rivers, i.e., Ganda in India, Jamuna in Bangladesh, and the Brahmaputra in Assam.
And if reports are to go by, it is expected that the cruise route will become operational by March 29, 2019, and will be operated by Kolkata-based Heritage Cruise. The route that the cruise liner will follow is—from Kolkata it will reach Dhaka via Sunderbans over. The liner will further enter Assam via Dhubri and sail till Guwahati.