The Chittagong Port has handled 2,57,421 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) of containers in May, which is 25.69 per cent higher than the same period of the preceding year, according to the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA).
Bangladesh’s main port handled 2,04,801 TEUs of containers in May last year.
CPA data show that 28,33,897 TEUs of containers were shipped through the seaport during July-May period of 2020-21 fiscal year, up from 27,84,992 TEUs in the same period of the previous fiscal.
On the other hand, some 87,58,865 tonnes of cargo were handled in the Chattogram port in May this year, up from 53,43,915 tonnes in the same period of the preceding year.
During the first 11 months of the fiscal, the port handled some 10,55,22,980 tonnes of cargo which is 1,03,52,950 tonnes higher than the same period of the last 2019-20 fiscal year, the data showed.
Some 337 vessels were handled in the Chattogram port last month, up from 223 vessels in the same month of the previous year.
Some 3,757 vessels of containers were handled through the seaport during the July-May period of the 2020-21 fiscal year, up from 3,527 vessels in the same period of the last fiscal.
CPA Chairman Rear Admiral Mohammad Shahjahan told BSS that during the two-month countrywide shutdown last year after the Covid-19 outbreak, the seaport faced acute and prolonged container and vessel congestion due to stockpiling of undelivered containers.
“Because of the bitter experience of the last year, we took prior initiatives, including issuance of letters to the importers and other users and kept asking the users repeatedly to keep the port congestion free. For the initiative, we got benefit,” he added.
He mentioned that the port has so far faced zero congestion even during the Ramadan and lockdown as the delivery activities have been running smoothly.
The CPA chairman said that within a single day in May, the port authorities set a record through handling 10,060 TEUs containers and delivering 5,030 TEUs.
Despite fear of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, he said, export-import trade through the port is showing a positive trend.
“The trend is encouraging compared to other ports in the world. In the coronavirus situation, many of the world’s ports reduced operational activity due to labour crisis or [all activities] had to be stopped. But no such crisis was allowed to arise in the port. The port’s operational activities were not closed for a single moment,” he said.
