Chittagong port to go for automation by next month

Staff Correspondent .  Chittagong

Chittagong port, the country’s gateway to foreign trade, is expected to go for automation with the installation of a digital container terminal management system by the end of next month to modernise its operational activities.

At a view exchange meeting with local media on Sunday on the occasion of the 124th founding anniversary of the port, Chittagong Port Authority chairman M Anwarul Islam hoped introduction of the CTMS would increase the efficiency in handling cargo.

‘It will raise the standard of port operation through electronic system instead of paper-based documentation,’ he said, adding, ‘The automation will transform the port into a world class global shipping hub.’

He claimed such automation would also curb corruption and speed up port operation.

CTMS had become a crying need for catering to the global demand and for supporting transit facilities if those are allowed to neighbouring countries, Islam pointed out.

‘We must upgrade Chittagong port to face the global challenge in maritime trade,’ he said, adding that cargo traffic through Chittagong port marked a 15 per cent increase every year.

He also announced that the control room of Chittagong port would be made more functional and updated.

Asked about the recent incident of trapping of two port workers inside a Singapore bound empty container, the chairman said that an interim probe report on the incident had already reached the port authority.

‘But we need to get more details on the incident after the return of the worker found alive in Singapore... It [the incident] called to question our security system,’ he said.