KHULNA, Feb 17: Mongla Port, the country's second-largest seaport, has registered a sharp rise in vessel arrivals and cargo handling during the first seven months of the 2025-26 fiscal year, signalling strengthening trade flows and enhanced operational capacity.
Official Port data show that between July 2025 and January 2026, a total of 31 foreign commercial container vessels docked at the port, handling 21,651 TEUs. The figure represents a striking 79.19 per cent increase compared with the previous fiscal year, when the port handled 21,456 TEUs over the entire 2024-25 period - a volume already surpassed well before the close of the current fiscal year.
During the July-January period, 515 foreign commercial vessels called at the port, while 6,404 reconditioned vehicles were imported. Therefore, cargo handling reached 8.266 million metric tonnes, marking a 25.03 per cent rise compared with the corresponding period a year earlier.
Officials said the steady growth in vessel calls and throughput underscores Mongla's expanding role in facilitating Bangladesh's import-export trade and easing pressure on other major gateways.
"With five months still remaining in the fiscal year, the port has already outperformed last year's total container handling volume", Md. Makruzzaman, Deputy Director of the Mongla Port Authority said.
"To improve user services and accommodate larger vessels, three new operational anchor berths - HP-1, HP-2 and HP-3 - have been declared in the Hiron Point area," he said.
On a trial basis, 16 commercial vessels with a 9.00-metre draft have successfully completed operations at the new berths.
