CHATTOGRAM, Nov 19, 2024 (BSS) - A higher volume of containers and cargos were handled at the Chattogram port in the last three months from August to October.

Container handling at Chittagong port had increased by 9 percent in the last three months when a total of 830,582 containers were handled in the port, said Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) Chairman Rear Admiral SM Moniruzzaman here today.

Speaking at a media briefing, he expressed the hope that container handling would cross 3.2 million TEUs at the end of the current fiscal year if the present trend of container handling continues.

Giving a salient feature of container handling at the port, he said the port experienced a growth of over 9.22 percent in container handling compared to the previous year.

Regarding average waiting time of ships, Moniruzzaman said that there were 45.5 thousand containers at Chattogram Port' on July 16. That is, about 85 percent of the total capacity of the Chittagong Port Authority was occupied, he added.

“It has been reduced to 34 thousand through systematic innovation in the last three months. Currently, the average waiting time of ships has come down one day from 6 to 8 days. Ships are getting on-arrival berthing after arriving at Chittagong Port.” he added.

The CPA Chairman said the global economic instability and high inflation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war and the subsequent Middle East crisis are also being reflected in the Bangladesh’s economy.

Despite this adverse situation, the CPA has maintained the continuity of cargo and container handling through its expertise and experience, he added.

He said the CPA has earned a total of TK 1,643.85 crore in the last 4 months of the 2024-25 financial years, which is 21.85 percent higher than the revenue earned in the corresponding period of the last financial year and at the same time 28.01 percent more than the last revenue quarter.