A harbor, or harbour, is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term harbor is often used interchangeably with port, which is a man-made facility built for loading and unloading vessels and dropping off and picking up passengers. Harbors usually include one or more ports. Alexandria Port in Egypt, meanwhile, is an example of a port with two harbors.
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. The world's largest bay, geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region.
Chittagong, officially Chattogram, is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. It is the administrative seat of an eponymous division and district. The city is located on the banks of the Karnaphuli River between the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the Bay of Bengal. The Greater Chittagong Area had a population of more than 5.2 million in 2022. In 2020, the city area had a population of more than 3.9 million. The city is home to many large local businesses and plays an important role in the Bangladeshi economy.
The Khulna Division is the second largest of the eight divisions of Bangladesh. It has an area of 22,285 km2 (8,604 sq mi) and a population of 17,416,645 at the 2022 Bangladesh census. Its headquarters and largest city is Khulna city in Khulna District.
Khulna is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative center of the Khulna District and the Khulna Division. Khulna's economy is the third-largest in Bangladesh, contributing $53 billion in gross regional domestic product and $95 billion in purchasing power parity (PPP) in 2020. In the 2024 census, the city corporation area had a population of 884,445.
The Karnaphuli River is the largest and most important river in Chittagong and the Chittagong Hill Tracts. It is a 667-metre (2,188 ft) wide river in the south-eastern part of Bangladesh. Originating from the Saithah village of Mamit district in Mizoram, India, it flows 270 kilometres (170 mi) southwest through Chattogram Hill Tracts and Chattogram into the Bay of Bengal. It is the fastest flowing river in Bangladesh, after the Padma. It is said to "represent the drainage system of the whole south-western part of Mizoram." Principal tributaries include the Kawrpui River or Thega River, Tuichawng River and Phairuang River. A large hydroelectric power plant was built on the Karnaphuli in the Kaptai region in the 1960s. The mouth of the river hosts the Port of Chattogram, the largest and busiest seaport of Bangladesh.
Bagerhat District is a district in south-western Bangladesh. It is a part of the Khulna Division.
The Chittagong Port is the main seaport of Bangladesh. Located in Bangladesh's port city of Chittagong and on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the port handles over 90 percent of Bangladesh's export-import trade, and has been used by India, Nepal and Bhutan for transshipment. According to Lloyd's, it ranked as the 58th busiest container port in the world in 2019. The port has a recorded history dating back to ancient Roman accounts. It is the busiest container port on the Bay of Bengal.
The Port of Dhaka is a major river port on the Buriganga River in Dhaka, the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. The port is located in the southern part of the city. It is Bangladesh's busiest port in terms of passenger traffic. The port has services to most of the districts of Bangladesh. In 2013, a container terminal opened 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the city to handle ocean-going ships. Along with Barisal, Chandpur and Narayanganj; the Dhaka port handled 53 million tonnes of cargo and 22 million passengers in 2013–14.
Mongla is an upazila of Bagerhat District in the Division of Khulna, Bangladesh. Its headquarters are the town of Mongla.
Dacope is an upazila of Khulna District in the Division of Khulna, Bangladesh. Dacope Thana was established in 1906 and was converted into an upazila in 1983.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chittagong, renamed Chattogram on December 28, 2018, is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Bangladesh. The Archdiocese of Chittagong is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province of Chittagong, which includes the suffragan dioceses of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Khulna and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Barisal, both in Bangladesh. However, it remains dependent on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
The Bangladesh Coast Guard is the maritime law enforcement force of Bangladesh. It is a paramilitary force which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Its officers and sailors are transferred from the Bangladesh Navy, and most of the medical officers are transferred from the Bangladesh Army. The Bangladesh Coast Guard also performs the duty of maritime border security of Bangladesh. The headquarters is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The coast guard has 3,339 personnel and 63 ships. A modernisation plan named Coast Guard Goal 2030 was undertaken to enhance its capabilities.
The Rupsa is a river in southwestern Bangladesh and a distributary of the Ganges. The Rupsa is one of the most famous rivers of Bangladesh.
Ebrahim Shaik Baba Bhombal was a Pakistani civil servant and master mariner who was the first native Indian harbor pilot in British India. An officer in the British Merchant Navy, he was appointed Pilot by the Karachi Port Trust in 1931. During World War II he was commissioned by the Royal Indian Navy and worked as Dock Master in Karachi, where after the war he was made Harbour Master. In 1949 the Government of Pakistan requisitioned his services for the development and expansion of Chittagong Port in East Bengal. In 1950 he was responsible for organizing and overseeing the establishment of a second port in East Bengal, at Chalna. Chalna Port would be Pakistan's third port, and the first to be established after the country's independence. Bhombal subsequently served as Port Director and Conservator at Chalna.
The Haldia Port, officially Haldia Dock Complex (HDC), is a port on the confluence of the Haldi River and the Hooghly River. The port is located at Haldia in West Bengal, about 130 kilometres (81 mi) from the sandheads–deep sea area of the Bay of Bengal, 45 kilometres (28 mi) upstream from Pilotage Station at Sagar and 104 km downstream of Kolkata. In 1968, an oil jetty was commissioned at Haldia, and officially in 1977 the port facility of Haldia started functioning as a subsidiary port of the Port of Kolkata under the name Haldia Dock Complex.
The countries of the Bay of Bengal include littoral and landlocked countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia that depend on the bay for maritime usage. Historically, the Bay of Bengal has been a highway of transport, trade, and cultural exchange between diverse peoples encompassing the Indian subcontinent, Indochinese peninsula, and Malay Archipelago. Today, the Bay of Bengal region is the convergence of two major geopolitical blocs- the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) promotes regional engagement in the area.
Matarbari Port is a under-construction sea-port on the shores of Bay of Bengal, located at Matarbari area of Chittagong division, Bangladesh. Construction of the port began in the late 2010s with the construction of a Captic Jetty for the Matarbari Power Plant, and later the Government of Bangladesh undertook a project to build a full-fledged commercial port. After construction, it will be Bangladesh's first deep-sea port. It is estimated that the cost for the construction of the port in the first phase will be ৳177.77 billions to ৳200.00 billions including the approach road.
The Port of Barisal, officially known as Barisal River Port is the second largest and busiest river port in Bangladesh after Dhaka in terms of passenger traffic. It is located on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in the city of Barisal. The port operates daily services between Dhaka and Barisal as well as most of the districts in southern part of the country including Chandpur, Narayanganj, Bhola, Laxmipur, Pirojpur and Barguna. It also operates inter-district routes around Barisal.
BNS Mongla is a naval base of the Bangladesh Navy located in the southwestern part of Bangladesh. It is situated on the banks of the Pussur River in Mongla Upazila of Bagerhat district, about 70 kilometers south of Khulna city.
