Two foreign ships have been unable to anchor to Mongla port of Bagerhat due to navigability crisis.
The ships named ‘MVCS Future’ bearing the flag of Panama and ‘MV Pioneer Dream’ bearing the flag of Tuvalu have been stuck for four days with goods at the Outer Bar of Mongla Port.
Due to the navigability crisis, these foreign ships could not enter the Mongla port.
On Monday (October 4), local shipping agent Park Shipping owner Humayun Kabir Patwari and Khulna manager of FMS Maritime Md Biplob said dredging has been done at the entrance of the ship for nine and a half meters in the outer bar.
“However, those two ships are less than nine and a half meters but till they are unable to enter the port. So what is the benefit of dredging at the cost of hundreds of crores of rupees? Now you have to unload the product by sending a lighter with a large sum of money as compensation”, he added.
Sheikh Fakhar Uddin, Harbor Master Commander of Mongla Port Authority, said that after dredging, the place was filled with silt again. Then the rainy season got worse. On October 3 a hopper dredger was sent to dredge the outer bar. It's not a big problem, he said of the ship's inability to enter. There, some goods will be unloaded with lighters and the ships will be brought to the two ports.
On September 30, a 9.3-meter Panama-flagged MVCS Future ship carrying 23,000 metric tons of urea fertilizer anchored at the pilot station at Hiran Point for Mongla port. Then on October 1, another foreign ship MV Pioneer Dream carrying the Tuvalu flag at a depth of 9.25 meters brought 11,000 metric tons of ceramic products.
Mongla Port Chief Engineer (Civil and Hydraulic) and Outer Bar Dredging PD (Project Director) Shawkat Ali Lane, Dredging was completed in December 2020 at the Outer Bar of Mongla Port at a cost of about Tk 700 crore. Now there is a problem with some silt falling and the depth decreasing.
However, hopper dredgers are trying to re-excavate it.