The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Danish shipping company Maersk will build an inland container depot outside the Chittagong port to ease congestion at the country's main port, officials said yesterday. Maersk Bangladesh Ltd, a subsidiary of the Danish shipping giant, will construct the 25-acre container depot at a cost of US$20 million next year, company deputy general manager Nurul Alam said.

"We will build the inland container depot outside Chittagong port. It has become critically important to build the ICD to avoid congestion at Chittagong port," he said. At present the country has another container depot in Kamalapur in the capital Dhaka.

Maersk is the leading shipping operator in Bangladesh, handling around 30 per cent of the country's US$29 billion annual foreign trade. Chittagong port is the country's main economic lifeline, accounting for 90 per cent of foreign trade. The port, however, suffers from serious congestion, with the number of containers it handles doubling in the last five years. Maersk is one of the leading ocean carriers, which provides door-to-door transportation service.

With more than 500 container vessels, 1,900,000 containers and own terminals, trucks and trains Maersk ensures reliable worldwide coverage. It is operating in more than 125 countries around the world.