Ctg port vessels shifted to outer anchorage to secure jetties

All 20 vessels anchored at different jetties of Chattogram port were sent to the outer anchorage by today morning as part of the safety measures for the approaching cyclone Mocha.

Loading and unloading activities at the port jetties and the lighterage of goods from 60 vessels at the outer anchorage have also been suspended, but the delivery of imported goods and containers from the port would continue until the weather becomes bad, said Md Omar Faruk, secretary of Chattogram Port Authority (CPA).

No new imported product was released or export-oriented goods were loaded to the vessels shifted to the outer anchorage this morning, he said.

Import-export goods will not be delivered or enter the port after 5 pm today, Faruk said.

"All activities will be suspended until further instructions from the Meteorological Department."

The canals of Karnaphuli river have been cleared through shifting of the lighter vessels to the upstream of Shah Amanat Bridge, he said.

All the CPA crafts, including the tug boats, were taken to the safe shelters while the gantry cranes, other shore cranes and equipment were brought to a secured place, he added.

The port authority has put its own Alert no. 4, the second highest security alert as per its Cyclone Disaster Preparedness and Post-Cyclone Rehabilitation Plan, 1992, in line with the Meteorological Department hoisting danger signal no. 8 for the port, port official said.

About 2,000 containers were delivered from the port until 4pm today, according to port data.