Chittagong port, the main seaport of the country, did not stop even during the Eid holidays. To maintain the continuity of import– export activities, the port authority takes special plans in advance and the plan is implemented throughout the holidays. As a result, all operational activities including ship handling, cargo unloading, container processing are going smoothly despite the holiday mood.
The Port Authority constituted a special task force to ensure the supply of fuel oil and daily necessities ahead of Ramadan and Eid. Product redemption is kept under round-the-clock observation at jetticide and outer anchorage. Ports play an important role especially in fuel oil crisis with priority berthing and navigational support. According to the port authorities, special measures were also taken to ensure that the arrival and departure of ships inside the port is unhindered. Officers – employees perform duties on roster basis, while chairman, members and senior officers monitor round the clock.
To reduce the suffering of people during the Eid journey, the port authorities in coordination with the Chittagong and Dhaka Metropolitan Police allowed only vehicles of daily necessities and emergency exports to move with special stickers during the long vehicle ban on the highway. It keeps the supply of daily commodities in the market normal and also helps in controlling commodity prices.
According to the port authority, a total of 25 lakh 8 thousand 614 metric tons of cargo handling was done at the port in seven days from March 17 to 23. Out of this, 23.61 lakh tonnes are imported and 1.46 lakh tonnes are exported products. A record 4.34 lakh tonnes of cargo handling was completed in one day on March 18. A total of 54,898 TEUS containers were handled at the port during the same period, with imports of 28,961 TEUS and exports of 25,937 TEUS. A maximum of 11,861 TEUS containers were processed on March 18. There were 64 ships berthing and handling in the port throughout the week, with the highest being —14 ships on 19 March.
In recent times, the strike and ship arrival pressure have increased, but the waiting time of the ship has reached two to three days, but the active role of the port authority in the middle of the holiday has made it possible to bring down the waiting time in the outer anchorage again to – zero day‘, which is an important achievement for the port. As of March 24, the port currently has 43,200 TEUS containers against its capacity of 59,000 TEUS. Of these, 36,253 TEUS full containers, 2,654 TUS depot containers and 1,652 TEUS empty containers. 512 TEUS containers bound for ICD Kamalapur are also at the port. 1,581 TEUSs have been delivered in the last 24 hours and another 525 TEUSs are scheduled for delivery today.
All in all, this continuous performance of Chittagong port has played a major role in keeping the country’s supply chain stable even during the Eid holidays, according to the port authorities. Although there was some slowness on March 21, operations turned around on March 22 and 23 and the port quickly returned to normal, authorities said.
