5/5 SHIHAB 1 year ago on Google • 359 reviews
The Chittagong
Port (Bengali: চট্টগ্রাম
বন্দর)
is
the
main seaport of
Bangladesh.
Located
in
Bangladesh's
port
city
of Chittagong and
on
the
banks
of
the Karnaphuli
River,
the
port
handles
over
90
percent
of
Bangladesh's
export-import
trade,and
has
been
used
by India, Nepal and Bhutan for transshipment.
According
to Lloyd's,
it
ranked
as
the
58th
busiest
container
port
in
the
world
in
2019.The
port
is
one
of
the
oldest
in
the
world.
Congestion
is
a
major
challenge
in
Chittagong
port.
The
port
had
a
congestion
rate
of
84.3
hours
between
January
and
July
in
2017.
The
Chittagong
area
has
been
a
recorded
seaport
since
the
4th
century
BCE.
In
the
2nd
century,
the
harbor
appeared
on Ptolemy's
map,
drawn
by
the
Greco-Roman
cartographer Claudius
Ptolemy.
The
map
mentions
the
harbor
as
one
of
the
finest
in
the
Eastern
world.
The Periplus
of
the
Erythraean
Sea documents
trade
between
Chittagong
and
private
merchants
from Roman
Egypt.Arab traders
frequented
Chittagong
since
the
9th
century. In
1154, Al-Idrisi noted
that
merchants
from Baghdad and Basra regularly
travelled
to
Chittagong.Arab
traders
played
an
important
role
in
spreading
Islam
in
the
region.
The
port
appears
in
the
travelogues
of
Chinese
explorers Xuanzang and Ma
Huan.
The
Moroccan
explorer Ibn
Battuta and
the Venetian traveler Niccolo
De
Conti visited
the
port
in
the
14th
century.
The
historical
port
had
ship
trade
with
Africa,
Europe,
China
and
Southeast
Asia.The Portuguese
settlement
in
Chittagong centered
on
the
port
in
the
16th
and
17th
centuries.
After
the
Portuguese
were
expelled,
Chittagong
came
under
the
rule
of
the Mughal
Empire and
was
named
Islamabad.
It
became
an
important shipbuilding center,
catering
to
the
Mughal
and Ottoman navies.
After
the
rise
of
British
dominance
in
Bengal
following
the
Battle
of
Plassey,
the Nawab
of
Bengal ceded
the
port
to
the British
East
India
Company in
1760.The
modern
Chittagong
port
was
organized
in
1887
under
the
Port
Commissioners
Act
in
the British
Indian
Empire.
The
port
began
formal
operations
under
a
commissioner
in
1888.
Its
busiest
trade
links
were
with British
Burma,
including
the
ports
of Akyab and Rangoon;and
other
Bengali
ports,
including Calcutta, Dhaka and Narayanganj.In
the
year
1889–90
the
port
handled
exports
totalling
125,000
tons. The Strand
Road was
built
beside
the
harbour.
Between
1905
and
1911,
Chittagong
was
the
chief
seaport
of Eastern
Bengal
and
Assam.
It
was
made
the
terminus
of
the Assam
Bengal
Railway.
Hence,
the
port's
hinterland
included
all
of colonial
Assam (modern Northeast
India).
Trade
between
British
India
and
British
Burma
rapidly
increased
in
the
early
20th
century.
The
Bay
of
Bengal
became
one
of
the
busiest
shipping
hubs
in
the
world,
rivaling
the
traffic
of
ports
on
the Atlantic.
In
1928,
the
British
government
declared
Chittagong
as
a
"Major
Port"
of
British
India.
Chittagong
was
important
for
the
petroleum
industry
that
developed
in Assam and Burma.
It
was
used
for jute and
rice
trading.
During World
War
II,
Chittagong
port
was
used
by Allied
Forces in
the Burma
Campaign.
After
the
partition
of
British
India,
the
governor
general
of
the Dominion
of
Pakistan, Muhammad
Ali
Jinnah,
visited
Chittagong
and
stressed
its
importance
and
future
potential. The
Chittagong
Port
Trust
was
formed
in East
Pakistan in
1960.
100
employees
of
the
Chittagong
Port
were
killed
during
the Bangladesh
Liberation
War in
1971.
The Soviet
Pacific
Fleet was
tasked
with
mine
clearing
and
salvage
operations
in
the
port
after
the
war.
The
port
has
benefited
from
the
growth
of heavy
industry and logistics in
the
Chittagong
Metropolitan
Area
in
the
years
following
independence.
Trade
unionism
was
strong
in
the
late
1990s.
A
major
expansion
took
place
with
the
construction
of
the
New
Mooring
Terminal
in
the
first
decade
of
the
21st
century.
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