Mongla port: Harbouring the future of Bangladesh

Once a sleeping port, Mongla is nowa vital part of Bangladesh's economic infrastructure.
In fact, with the anchoring of the 117th foreign vessel on New Year's Eve, Mongla port touched a milestone in the monthly statistics of handling shipments in the past 70 years, surpassing all its previous records.
A Panama-flagged ship, 'MV Wanda', anchored at the port's Mooring Bay No 10 on Thursday night. The ship had left the port of Georges Lasfar in Morocco with fertilisers for unloading at Mongla on November 23.
With the arrival ofMV Wanda, the port surpassed its previous record of foreign vessel handling at106 in November 2020.
Harbour Master of Mongla Port, Commander Sheikh Fokor Uddin said that therecent dredgingon the tidal estuary of the Bay of Bengal turned the corner of navigabilityat theport."Not only that, the increasing modern facilities at the port have been prompting more foreignvessels to anchor at Mongla."Statistics show that the number of ships arriving at the port has been increasing with each passing year, theHarbour Master said. "In2014-15fiscal, some416 ships had docked at the port. The figure rose to 482in 2015-16. In the next financial year, some624 vessels had arrivedwhile the number was 784in 2017-18. In2018-19, the number stood912."
In the current fiscal, we hope the figure will exceed 1,000,Commander Sheikh added.
The foreign vessels that docked at the port last year included container carriers, car carriers, coal carriers, urea fertiliser suppliers. The foreign vessels also carried a nuclear reactor with other equipment, goods of power plants and railway cargo, cement clinker and LPG.
This gradual growth in shipments is boosting activity around the export zone. New industries are coming up, creating more job opportunities, according to officials.
Chairman of the Mongla Port Authority, Rear Admiral M Shahjahan said that "the navigability crisis at the port is over". "Ships with 9.5 metres drafting are now being able toanchor at the port comfortably. We hope Mongla port will be able to handle over 1,000 ships this fiscal."
The seaport that once faced closure,is now keeping pace withChittagong,the largest seaport of Bangladesh. And the facilities offered by the portare nowharmonious with other export zones.
Moreover, an agreement signed with a Chinese company for Inner bar dredging on December 30, will come into effect fromthis month. Once complete, it will pave the way for the portto become an apt alternative to Chittagong port.    -UNB