CHITTAGONG, Mar 15: Container vessel service from Bangladesh to India under the Coastal Shipping Agreement has been inaugurated on Tuesday.
Shipping Minister M Shajahan Khan formally inaugurated the service at the New Mooring Container Terminal at Chittagong Port.
He said the bilateral coastal shipping service would boost trade between the two neigbouring countries by reducing time and cost in future.
He also said the coastal shipping will improve bilateral trade by cutting down costs of logistics as vessels would be directly moving between ports of India and Bangladesh instead of Singaporean and Sri Lankan ports.
Presided over by Commodore Zulfiqur Aziz, acting chairman of Chittagong Port Authority, the inaugural ceremony was addressed by Nur-e-Alam Chowdhury MP, Nazrul Islam Chowdhury MP, secretary to the shipping ministry Ashok Madhab Roy and Rakesh Raman, first secretary to Indian High Commission in Bangladesh.
As part of the bilateral shipping service, MV Harbour-1, laden with 150 empty containers will set sail for Krishnapatnam Port of India from Chittagong Port of Bangladesh on March 17. The vessel will reach Krishnapatnam Port on March 22.
MV Harbour-1 laden with goods will sail from Krishnapatnam Port on March 23 and it will reach Chittagong Port on March 28.
In Bangladesh, the ports of call are Chittagong, Pangaon ICT, Narayanganj, Ashuganj, Paira, Khulna and Mongla while the ports of call in India are Kolkata, Haldia, Pradip, Vishakhapatnam, Kakinada, Krishnapatnam and Chennai.