A commercial vessel carrying 57,500 tonnes of wheat imported from the United States arrived at Mongla Port on Sunday, with unloading operations beginning later in the day after sample testing was completed, reports BSS.
The vessel, MV Ultra Bulk, entered the port in the morning and commenced unloading during the afternoon shift following clearance of the wheat samples. The ship had earlier anchored at the port’s fairway buoy on January 29.
Md Shamim, manager of local shipping agent Seven Seas, said the vessel departed from the Port of Portland in Oregon, the United States, on December 21 last year bound for Mongla Port.
After arriving at the fairway buoy on January 29, the vessel remained there pending sample testing. Unloading began on Sunday afternoon after the samples were cleared, he added.
Abdus Sobhan Sardar, Assistant Food Controller at the Mongla Food Office, said the wheat was imported under a Government-to-Government (G2G) agreement between Bangladesh and the United States. Under the arrangement, a total of 450,000 tonnes of wheat will be imported through Mongla Port, with the current shipment being the fourth consignment.
He said the first consignment of 22,780 tonnes arrived on November 2 last year, followed by 60,875 tonnes on November 14, and a third shipment of 22,756 tonnes on January 5 this year.
The imported wheat will initially be stored at the government food warehouse, Mongla Silo, before being distributed to various districts across the country.
To help address the trade deficit, the government of Bangladesh signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States in July last year, under which the wheat imports are being carried out.
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
