Mongla Port Authority
Profile
- Head
- Rear Admiral M Shaheen Rahman, NUP, ndc, psc
- Role
- Chairman
- Annual budget
- —
- Staff
- —
- Established
- 1987
- Legal basis
- Mongla Port Authority Ordinance, 1976 (Ordinance No. LII of 1976), enacted under the Proclamations of 20 August 1975 and 8 November 1975. The Chalna Port Authority (constituted in May 1977 under the same ordinance) was formally renamed Mongla Port Authority on 8 March 1987, the date used as the authority's founding anniversary.
Mongla Port is in the strongest operational phase in its history: FY2025-26 container throughput of 25,250 TEU (through April 15, 2026) has already exceeded the full FY2024-25 total by nearly 18%, driven by three new Hiron Point anchor berths and an ongoing Pashur Channel dredging project (Navy MoU signed August 2025, Tk 1,538 crore, five-year). Shipping Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam's 180-day transformation plan (announced February 21, 2026) is in its implementation window; key pending items are the Mongla River bridge and Mongla-Khulna rail service expansion. Revenue target for FY2025-26 is Tk 600 crore against the FY2024-25 actual of Tk 343.33 crore -- a target that implies 75% revenue growth on the back of record throughput.
Recent activity
- 2026-04-21 statement BSS reported that Mongla Port handled 25,250 TEU containers and received 699 foreign commercial ships in the first nine-and-a-half months of FY2025-26 (July 2025 to 15 April 2026), surpassing the full-year FY2024-25 total of 21,456 TEUs; cargo throughput reached 10.82 million metric tonnes against 7.62 million MT in the same period last year. ↗
- 2026-04-01 other New domestic container shipping route between Mongla and Chattogram ports commenced operation from April 2026, operated by Chattogram-based Sea Glory shipping agency; containers carry fish, frozen goods, and jute from Mongla for onward export through Chattogram, with empty containers returned from Chattogram. ↗
- 2026-02-21 policy Shipping Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam announced a 180-day transformation plan for Mongla Port at a visit to the port; pledged comprehensive management reforms, priority construction of a bridge over the Mongla River, expansion of Mongla-Khulna rail services with additional coaches and locomotives, and centering national import-export activity on the port to leverage the southwestern region's potential. ↗↗
- 2026-02-18 statement BSS confirmed that Mongla Port handled 21,651 TEU containers and received 515 foreign commercial ships in the first seven months of FY2025-26 (July 2025 to January 2026), representing a 79.19% year-on-year increase in container throughput and surpassing the entire FY2024-25 TEU total of 21,456; cargo volume reached 8.266 million metric tonnes (+25.03% YoY); three new Hiron Point anchor berths (HP-1, HP-2, HP-3) declared operational for vessels up to 200 metres length and 9-metre draft. ↗↗
- 2025-12-02 other Mongla Port Authority celebrated its 75th founding anniversary (platinum jubilee); Chairman Rear Admiral M Shaheen Rahman stated that the planned Pashur Channel performance-based dredging project would enable the port to accommodate over 100 additional vessels annually with 9.5-10 metre draft capacity, and that full utilisation of port potential could support 1,500 foreign ships and 100,000 TEUs per year. ↗
- 2025-08-14 procurement Mongla Port Authority and Bangladesh Navy signed an MoU for conservation dredging of the Pashur Channel; project cost approximately Tk 1,538 crore (of which Tk 1,384 crore government-funded and Tk 154 crore MPA-funded); scope is removal of 34.75 million cubic metres of silt to restore 9.5-10 metre draft at jetties; implementation January 2025 to December 2029; Shipping Adviser Brigadier General Dr M Sakhawat Hussain (retd) witnessed signing. ↗↗
Provenance & notes
Establishment year is 1987, the date on which the Chalna Port Authority (constituted May 1977 under Ordinance No. LII of 1976) was formally renamed Mongla Port Authority; the port itself has operated at Mongla since 1954 following relocation from the Chalna anchorage (opened to foreign vessels 11 December 1950). The legal foundation remains the Mongla Port Authority Ordinance, 1976. Chairman Rear Admiral M Shaheen Rahman's appointment date is not confirmed by any primary source located; the portal biography page returned a TLS certificate error. staff_count and annual_budget_bdt are omitted pending official MPA source. Revenue target of Tk 600 crore for FY2025-26 is confirmed by TBS, Financial Express, BSS, and Textile Today. The 21,651 TEU and 515 foreign ships figures are explicitly for the seven-month period July 2025 to January 2026, not a calendar H1; the user-requested framing as 'FY26 H1' is approximately correct. The +79% YoY figure (79.19% to be exact) is verified by BSS (bssnews.net/business/361976) and apparel resources cross-coverage. Pashur Channel dredging cost appears as Tk 1,538.19 crore in the ECNEC approval announcement (Financial Express, Dredging Today) and approximately Tk 1,600 crore in the August 2025 MoU signing report (BSS); the ECNEC figure (Tk 1,538.19 crore) is used as the more precise primary source. Mongla-Ghasiakhali channel is a separate inland waterway route to Mongla operated by BIWTA; the primary active dredging project under MPA authority is the Pashur Channel (Navy MoU). The 180-day plan was announced 21 February 2026; its 180-day window expires approximately 20 August 2026.
Sources
- https://mpa.gov.bd/
- https://mpa.portal.gov.bd/site/biography/7418569f-c1f0-4ab9-9237-65833b5be065
- http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/act-528.html
- https://mos.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/mos.portal.gov.bd/law/a5b873d2_fd1e_41f2_b6db_c69de486fd4a/Mongla%20Port%20Authority%20Ordinance,%201976..pdf
- https://www.bssnews.net/business/361976
- https://www.bssnews.net/business/362075
- https://www.bssnews.net/others/380019
- https://www.bssnews.net/others/337872
- https://www.bssnews.net/others/301857
- https://www.bssnews.net/news/362801
- https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/mongla-port-targets-tk600cr-revenue-fy2025-26-1214846
- https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade/mongla-port-targets-tk-6b-revenue-in-fy-2025-26
- https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/local-news/u0dmyctuft
- https://www.dredgingtoday.com/2025/01/14/mongla-port-dredging-starts-at-pashur-channel/
- https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/container-ship-service-set-to-begin-between-mongla-and-chattogram-ports/
- https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Mongla_Port
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongla_Port_Authority
- https://apparelresources.com/business-news/trade-business-news/mongla-port-posts-record-container-throughput-earnings-first-half-fy-26/