Fish cargo boat arrives from Myanmar after 9 days

Cox’s Bazar, Dec 15 (V7N) –After nine days of suspension due to the ongoing conflict in Myanmar's Rakhine State, a fish cargo boat has once again arrived at Teknaf Land Port in Cox’s Bazar. Early Sunday morning, a cargo boat carrying 108 tons of ilish, rui, and katla fish reached the Teknaf land port jetty from Myanmar’s Yangon.
The last fish cargo boat from Myanmar arrived on December 6. Subsequently, the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic rebel group, captured Maungdaw Township amid the ongoing war in Rakhine State.

Since then, no cargo boats have arrived at Teknaf land port under Bangladesh-Myanmar border trade.

Regarding this, Syed Mohammad Anwar Hossain, Manager of United Land Port at Teknaf, said: “After nine days of closure, a fish cargo boat carrying 108 tons has arrived from Myanmar. The boat contains fish from four traders, including ilish, rohu, and katla. The unloading process is underway.”

Meanwhile, the persistent conflict in neighboring Myanmar has significantly impacted imports and exports at Teknaf land port in Cox’s Bazar.

After nine days, only one fish cargo trawler has arrived from Myanmar.

Before this, a fish-laden trawler arrived on Friday, but no other cargo vehicles have entered the port since.

Officials stated that unless the situation in Myanmar stabilizes, normal port operations are unlikely to resume.

Officials from the land port and customs reported that from June to November, 8,800 tons of various goods arrived from Myanmar.

During the 2023-24 fiscal year, 78,527 tons of goods were imported, compared to 199,225 tons in the 2022-23 fiscal year.

Conversely, from June to November, Bangladesh exported only 310 kilograms of goods to Myanmar via Teknaf land port. Exports in the 2023-24 fiscal year amounted to 1,408 tons, while 3,523 tons were exported in the 2022-23 fiscal year.

Typically, Bangladesh imports various goods from Myanmar, including timber, frozen fish, dried areca nuts, onions, ginger, dried fish, coconuts, and pickles.

In return, Bangladesh exports potatoes, plastic products, cement, ready-made garments, biscuits, chanachur, chips, and soft drinks to Myanmar.

Teknaf land port trader Mohammad Sohel said: “The ongoing war in Rakhine has severely affected border trade.

Early Sunday morning, a large boat carrying 108 tons of fish arrived from Myanmar’s Sittwe. Out of this, 30 tons of fish belong to me.”