POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Aug 8, 2022 : A cargo ship, MV Rishad Raihan, carrying Indian goods has arrived at the Mongla sea port on Monday.
This is the first trial run of using the Mongla port to transport goods to India’s north-eastern states of Assam and Meghalaya under the India Bangladesh Transshipment Agreement.
The ship has anchored in the ninth jetty of the port. The ship is carrying two containers. One of the containers is transporting 16.380 tonnes of iron pipes in 70 packages and the other container contains 8.5 tonnes of prefoam in 249 packets.
Four years ago, Bangladesh and India had signed a agreement to allow India to use the Chattogram and Mongla port for transit. India will run four trial runs before the operation officially commences.
The MV Rishad Raihan was loaded with goods at the Kolkata port on 1 August. It finally reached Mongla on Sunday and anchored at the jetty on Monday morning.
Indian assistant high commissioner Inder Jeet Sagar, chairman of Mongla port authority Rear Admiral Mohammad Musa, Mongla port authority member Mohammad Abdul Wadud Tarafder and other highups were present at the jetty to witness the arrival of the cargo ship. Later, a discussion was organised at the port’s meeting room.
JAC Shipping and Swift Logistic Services Limited were the ship’s local shipping agent and clearing and forward (C&F) agent.
The port authority said the transit cargo arrived in Mongla for a trial run at the Mongla-Tamabil (Sylhet) route and Mongla-Bibirbazar (Cumilla) route.
The container containing iron pipes will be taken through the Mongla-Tamabil route while the other container will go through the Mongla-Bibirbazar route. Both containers are heading to Assam.
Mongla port authority chairman Rear Admiral Mohammad Musa on Monday said this is a milestone in transporting goods from India through the Mongla port. This will strengthen the economic and friendship ties between Bangladesh and India.
According to the shipping ministry, India and Bangladesh signed an agreement in October 2018 to transport goods to north-eastern states of India using the Chattogram and Mongla ports. Both countries believe they will benefit from this agreement.
But due to the Covid-19 pandemic and other complications, the agreement couldn’t be implemented. Now, the Indian government wants to complete the trials before August and weed out the issues before the end of this year.
