Mongla Port Authority (MPA)

[Maisson]

Azad made Mongla Port chairman

Rear Admiral Sheikh Abul Kalam Azad has been appointed as the chairman of Mongla Port Authority (MPA) on deputation.

He replaced the previous chairman Rear Admiral Mohammad Muzammel Hoque.

He has already taken over the charge of the chairman of the port authority yesterday.

Azad was born in Kumarkhali upazila of Kustia on April 30, 1967.

He joined Bangladesh Navy on January of 1985 and was commissioned in executive brunch on July 1, 1987.

[Maisson]

Tk 794cr project to dredge Mongla Port channel

Proposal to be placed in ECNEC meeting today
DEEPAK ACHARJEE, Dhaka
 
The government has taken a big project to dredge 11 kilometer (km) channel of Mongla Port to increase navigability for facilitating bigger container vessels to anchor at the jetty.

The planning commission has already prepared a proposal of the 3-year long project involving Tk 794 crore, which is likely to be placed in the meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) today, the sources in the planning commission and the ministry of shipping said.

At present, the depth of the navigability of 30 km areas of the outer bar (from the Bay of Bangle to entry point of the river Pasur) and inner bar (Joymanirgol to Jetty of the Mongla port) is five to six meters. And that’s why, the 9.5 meters depth container ships can to anchor at the jetties of the port, the sources said yesterday.

Talking to The Independent, a high official of shipping ministry said the cost and time of cargo transportation have been increased as big ships can’t anchor at the jetties of the port due to poor navigability at the channel.

At present, the Pashur river has 7-8 metres of draft. But 8.5-9.5 metres draft depth is needed for relatively

bigger container vessels to anchor at the jetty, according to port users

“It will be possible to anchor 9.5 meters depth container ships to the port jetties after completion of the project by 2022,” shipping ministry official said.

“We will be able to increase the capacity of the port after completion of the project successfully,” he added.

According to the proposal, the use of the Mongla Port would be increased in 2021 after completion of the Rampal Coal-fired power plan and start operation of the country’s nuclear power plant in Rooppur.

“At least, 45 lakh tonnes of raw materials of the Rampal coal-fired power plant and raw material of nuclear power plant would be imported through the sea port,” the proposal added.

As per a recent survey conducted by the Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, there is a possibility to handle 8.72 lakh TEU (twenty-foot equivalent) containers in 2025, and 45.32 lakh containers and over 30,000 vehicles in 2050.Currently, the port can handle 54,000 containers.

[Rezwan12]

Three sailors kept in ‘isolation’ in Mongla for coronavirus screening

  Bagerhat Correspondent and Senior Correspondent  bdnews24.com

Published: 05 Mar 2020 04:53 PM BdST Updated: 05 Mar 2020 05:00 PM BdST

Three sailors of a ship that reached the Mongla port have been taken into the isolation ward for having body temperature more than the normal range amid the global outbreak of the coronavirus.

The authorities have stopped the offloading of goods from the Serenitas N, a bulk carrier sailing under the flag of the Marshal Islands, said Mongla Port’s harbour master Fakharuddin Ahmed.

The Serenitas N sailed from the Lianyungang port in China to the Mongla port via Chattogram port carrying 24,000 tonnes of coal on Wednesday.

A five-member medical team of the port entered the ship for medical check-ups of the sailors, said Samir Asif, a physician in the port hospital. Of the 20 sailors, three Filipinos were found with body temperature crossing the normal range. They were taken into the isolation ward for further medical screening.

Though the sailors have high body temperature, they did not show other symptoms common to coronavirus patients, Asif told bdnews24.com.

The port authority banned the other sailors from getting off the ship, said Fakharuddin.

In Bangladesh, the infection cases can be tested only in the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research or IEDCR.

“We have been contacting the authority since last night. But the ship is docked quite far away from the port. It is hard to reach there. That’s why it is taking some time. We’ll disseminate the information the moment we receive it,” IEDCR Director Meerjady Sabrina Flora said on Thursday.

The Mongla port took precautionary measures following the global outbreak of the coronavirus. The virus has killed at least 3,283 people worldwide, mostly in China, where the epidemic originated in December.

 

https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2020/03/05/three-sailors-kept-in-isolation-in-mongla-for-coronavirus-screening