“D-document” added with Chittagong port system to smooth the daily work process.

After almost 100 days of joining as the Chairman of Chittagong Port on August 11 this year, Rear Admiral S M Moniruzzaman exchanged views with media personnel working in Chittagong for the first time. The exchange meeting was held at the Shaheed Mohammad Fazlur Rahman Munshi Auditorium of Chittagong Port on Tuesday (November 19).

At the beginning of the exchange meeting, Port Chairman Rear Admiral S M Moniruzzaman presented his written statement to the journalists, paying tribute to all the martyrs. In his written statement, he informed the journalists about the port’s capacity and various issues.

In the last three months (August to October), 830,582 containers were handled at Chittagong Port. This was 76,986 more containers than the same period last year. A growth of 10.22 percent was achieved compared to the previous year.

In this, the Chittagong Port Chairman said, ‘On July 16, there were 45.5 thousand containers in Chittagong Port. At that time, about 85 percent of the total capacity of Chittagong Port was containers across the area. However, in the last three months, it was reduced to 34 thousand through systematic innovation. Earlier, the waiting time of the ship was 6 to 8 days. Currently, the waiting time has been reduced to one day.’

He said, ‘In the last 4 months of the 2024-25 financial year, a revenue of Tk 1,643.85 crore has been earned. Which is 21.85 percent more than the revenue earned in the same period of the last financial year and at the same time 28.01 percent more than the revenue quoted.’

The Port Chairman said, ‘Initiatives have been taken to turn Chittagong Port into a world-class port through the introduction of a modern port ecosystem, port community system, digitalization and modernization. In order to facilitate and expedite the exchange of government letters and documents, an initiative has been taken to perform 80 percent of the work of Chittagong Port through the D-document system. To ensure the safety of ships at the outer anchorage of Chittagong Port, physical selection of candidates has been completed to register 128 watchmen. To ensure the safety of ships at the outer anchorage, steps are being taken to paint the lifeboats supplying goods in a specific (yellow) color and connect them to AIS and tracking systems.’

He said, ‘1.37 lakh cubic meters of dredging has been completed in the last three months in the project to remove waste from Sadarghat to Bakliar Char on the Karnaphuli River and thereby increase navigability. The project will be completed by June 2025. Activities have been strengthened to ensure a fair business environment by breaking all types of syndicates and monopolies at Chittagong Port. Earlier, 23 ship handling operator licenses have been canceled. Strict action has been taken against corruption/irregularities in all areas, the benefits of which have already started being received by the port users.’

He further added, “We are conducting all activities to make Chittagong Port accountable, welfare-oriented and more user-friendly. We have taken reform activities in all areas where reform activities are required.”