AMN / WEB DESK
The container ship MV Rishad Rayhan which left Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SPMP), Kolkata on July 31 on a trail run docked at the Mongla Port, in Bangladesh on Monday.
The Bangladeshi flag-bearing containership is carrying 16.38 tons of iron pipes and 8.5 tons of pre foam. It anchored at Jetty no. 9 of the Mongla port on arrival.
According to the Mongla Port Authority this is the first trial run of the four trial runs which will be conducted over the next few months towards the full operationalisation of the Agreement on the Use of Chattogram and Mongla Port (ACMP) for movement of goods to and from India signed in 2018. Earlier, a trial run was conducted in July 2020 when a container ship had arrived at Chattogram port from India.
The decision about the trial run was taken during the 13th meeting of the India-Bangladesh Joint Group of Customs held in March 2022.
The arrival of the containership at the Mongla port was witnessed by the Chairman of the Mongla Port Trust Rear Admiral Mohammand Musa and India’s Assistant High Commissioner to Khulna Inder Jit Sagar.
Rear Admiral Mohammad Musa called it a milestone in the shipping and trade relations which will further strengthen friendship between the two countries. The trial run is being conducted to enhance the trade between India and Bangladesh through the Protocol Route. It will enhance the trade and connectivity between the two countries, said the officials of the Mongla Port Trust.
The cargo from the containers will be transported on the Mongla-Tamabil and Mongla-Bibir Bazar-Srimantapur route to be sent to Meghalaya and Assam in India through the land ports.