26,500t of octane lands at Ctg port

A Hong Kong-flagged vessel, Quichi, carrying 26,500 tonnes of octane from Malaysia, has arrived at the outer anchorage of Chattogram Port.

This is the third octane shipment to reach the port in April, following earlier consignments of 26,000 tonnes on April 8 and 27,000 tonnes on April 17.

Officials said the latest shipment alone is sufficient to meet the country’s daily octane demand of around 1,200 tonnes for more than two months.

However, the vessel’s arrival was delayed by about 15 hours due to adverse weather conditions and rough seas. It reached the outer anchorage on April 30 instead of the scheduled time of April 29 at 8:00 pm.

Local shipping agent Pride Shipping Line said oil unloading from the vessel will begin this afternoon. Managing Partner Nazrul Islam confirmed that the delay was caused by rough sea conditions.

He added that five vessels are currently waiting at the outer anchorage, while three ships that berthed earlier have been unloading fuel since Tuesday. Two more vessels joined the unloading queue the same day.

Nazrul Islam also said unloading operations are being slowed due to a limited number of Dolphin Jetties at the port, preventing simultaneous berthing of all vessels. The arrival of multiple large ships in recent days has also forced the use of small mother vessels for oil transfer.

Due to continued inclement weather, unloading may be further delayed, and the vessel that arrived today could berth only by May 2.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, a Hong Kong-flagged vessel Gran Kuva arrived at Chattogram Port with 34,000 tonnes of diesel from India, followed by a Singapore-flagged Hafnia Marlin carrying 10,000 tonnes of diesel from China later the same night.