Chinese ship anchors at Bangladesh’s Payra port

Dhaka, Aug 2 (IANS) Operations at Bangladesh's Payra Sea Port were unofficially flagged off with the anchorage of a commercial vessel from China.

MV Fortune Bird reached the outer anchorage of the port in southwestern of Patuakhali district on Monday afternoon.

The port will be officially inaugurated in a ceremony on Aug 13, Payra Port Authority Chairman Captain Saidur Rahman told bdnews24.com.

The vessel, however, could not unload the 53,000 tonnes stone, mostly for the Padma Bridge, due to bad weather, Captain Saidur said.

Several other foreign ships would reach the port in the next few days.

"Ships depend on high tide in other ports, but there is no such problem with Payra port because of its deep navigability. Ships can travel to the port 24 hours a day," the chairman added.