Business Report :
Mongla Port, the country’s second-largest seaport, become a potential regional hub as it has seen a record 725 foreign commercial vessels anchor over the past ten and a half months, significantly boosting its revenue.
Between July 1, 2024, and May 13, 2025, the port handled more than 9.327 million tonnes of cargo and received 10,374 reconditioned cars, according to Md Makruzzaman, Deputy Secretary of the Mongla Port Authority (MPA).
At present, two ships are docked at the port’s jetties, actively unloading containerized goods.
An Indonesian flag bearer ship over 7.25 miter draft M V SELATAN DAMAI was docked for unloading 324 TUES container at jetty no-5 while at the jetty no-6, a Russian flag bearer ship over 7.4 meter draft M V FESCO OLGA was docked for unloading 2,195 tonnes of machineries, said Md Makruzzaman.
Over one lakh tonnes of goods were transported from July 2024 to May 13, 2025, he said, adding that the MPA witnessed record ship anchoring as several measures have been taken to draw ship arrival at Mongla Port.
Rear Admiral Shaheen Rahman, chairman of MPA, highlighted that the port plays a vital role in meeting national demands by facilitating the import of essential items such as food grains, cement raw materials, clinker, fertilizers, automobiles, machinery, rice, wheat, coal, oil, stone, corn, oilseeds, and LPG.
Additionally, Mongla Port supports exports of various Bangladeshi goods including white fish, shrimp, jute and jute products, frozen food, crabs, clay tiles, silk fabrics and general cargo.
Mongla Port is a key driver of economic development in the southwestern region of Bangladesh, he said, adding that it created hundreds of thousands of jobs for the people.
The thrust given to Mongla through large-scale dredging and introduction of modern technology is thus not only well directed but also time-befitting
Dredging of the vital Mongla channel has started paying back with increased navigability and a rising number of ships arriving at the country’s second biggest seaport. Reports say on an average 75 vessels arrived at the port every month in 2021.
This is clearly because of the intensive dredging at the nearly 140-kilometre port channel to improve navigability and allow movement of vessels requiring higher draft.
Along with the dredging, which is highly capital intensive, the Mongla Port Authority (MPA) is now set to add sophisticated technology to handle cargoes more efficiently to the benefit of the shippers as well as the importers and exporters at large.
A couple of projects are currently under implementation, and once completed, the port capacity is expected to increase manifold. Concerned quarters are hopeful that the port’s handling capacity could be as high as 4.0-5.0 million tonnes a year following the completion of the works at hand.
The opening of the Padma Bridge, scheduled for June this year, along with the establishment of the railway link will make the port more business-friendly. Given its proximity with two landlocked neighbours —Nepal and Bhutan — as well as transit and transhipment needs of India, Mongla has all the potential for becoming a regional shipping hub.
