Bagerhat Correspondent :
The arrival of foreign commercial ships was increased in the current fiscal year at Mongla, the country’s second largest seaport, which is making an important contribution to the economy. The arrival of ships carrying machinery and containers was also increased. As a result, the port’s officials and employees at various levels and ship workers are having a busy time. The port’s income was also increased due to the arrival of more ships.
This port also holds the top spot in car imports. 60 percent of the total imports are reconditioned cars unloaded through Mongla Port. In addition, the import of machinery products for various mega projects through this port as increased revenue.
According to the port authority sources, despite the global economic recession, there has been no adverse impact on the import and export of goods at Mongla port. On the contrary, the operational activities of the port have increased further. To continue the development trend, the port authority recently signed an agreement worth Tk 4,000 crore with the Chinese government. If the development projects included in it are implemented, the port’s scope will increase further.
Md. Makruzzaman, Deputy Director (Public Relations) Mongla Port Authorities told, a total of 725 foreign ships docked at the port from July to May 13 of the current fiscal year. A total of 10,374 reconditioned cars were imported in 22 ships. 93,27,214 metric tons of cargo were handled during the period. Overall, Mongla Port is in an upward position in all indicators.
He also told, currently, an Indonesian-flagged 115.49-meter-long, 7.25-meter-draft container ship named MV Selaton Damai is berthed at Jetty No. 5 of the port. The ship has 324 TEU containers.
The process of unloading containers from the container ship is ongoing. In addition, another foreign commercial ship is berthed at Jetty No. 6 of the port with machinery products.
MV Fesko Olga is a Russian flagged vessel with a length of 138.1 meters and a draft of 7.4 meters. The vessel is carrying 2,195 metric tons of machinery goods. The unloading of the cargo from the vessel is underway.
Rear Admiral Md. Shaheen Rahman, Chairman of Mongla Port Authorities told, the most important thing for ships to come to Mongla Port is to keep the channel navigable. With the recent completion of the dredging of the outer bar of the port channel, large ships can dock directly at the jetty. Once the ongoing inner bar dredging is completed, more ships will be able to dock at the port.
