CHATTOGRAM: Chattogram port, the prime seaport of the country, has increased its container handling capacity and reduced container handling time and the time for loading and unloading of containers.
According to the officials of the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), the port is completing the procedure of unloading and loading of import and export containers of bigger vessels within 48 hours. Earlier, it used to take 72 hours.
Chattogram port handled a total of 31,42,504 TEUS containers from January 01 to December 31, 2022. It, however, handled a total of 32, 14,548 TEUS containers in 2021.
On the other hand, the seaport handled a total of 11,96,65,682 tonnes of open cargo in 2022. It handled a total of 11,66,19,158 tonnes of open cargo in 2021, 10,32,09,000 tonnes in 2020, and 10,30,77,000 tonnes in 2019.
As per the 2022 edition of Lloyd's List's One Hundred Ports, Chattogram port is the 64th busiest port among the top 100 container ports across the world.
CPA Chairman Rear Admiral M Shahjahan said, "Chattogram seaport handled a record quantity of open-cargoes and a good quantity of containers last year. Now, the waiting time of ships in the port is zero."
The addition of the new equipment had given an impetus to the yard management system at the port alongside boosting its container handling capacity, he added.
It may be mentioned that the port handles more than 92 per cent of the export and import cargoes of Bangladesh.
