27,000 tonnes of diesel reaches Chittagong port

A tanker carrying more than 27,000 tonnes of diesel has reached the waters of Chittagong port 10 days after the start of the conflict in the Middle East. The tanker reached the waters of Chittagong port on Monday. In addition, four more diesel tankers are scheduled to reach the port within the next week.

According to port sources, the five tankers contain a total of about 147,205 tonnes of refined diesel, which is being imported from various Asian countries.

As the demand for diesel in the country has increased due to the conflict in the Middle East, the government has decided to reduce the supply to maintain the stock.

According to port sources, the tanker named 'Shiu Chi' carrying 27,204 tonnes of diesel from Singapore reached the port waters on Monday. According to marine traffic data, the tanker is currently anchored near Kutubdia.

Shipping agents said that four more diesel tankers will arrive at the port in the next few days. Among them, a tanker named ‘Lian Huan Hu’ is scheduled to arrive at the port from Singapore with about 30,000 tons of diesel on Monday night.

In addition, a tanker named ‘SPT Themis’ is expected to arrive at the port with 30,484 tons of diesel on Thursday.

Two more tankers ‘Raffles Samurai’ and ‘Chang Hang Hang Tu’ are expected to arrive at the port next Saturday. These two tankers have about 30,000 tons of diesel each.

Nazrul Islam, managing director of Pride Shipping Lines, the local agent of the four tankers, said that the tankers will reach the port within a week as per the schedule. After that, diesel will start being unloaded from them in phases.

According to the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), the normal demand for diesel in the country is about 12,000 tons per day. These five tankers of diesel can meet the demand for about 12 days.

However, to maintain the stock, the government has reduced the daily diesel supply to 9,000 tons from last Sunday. If supplied at this rate, the demand for diesel can be met for about 16 days.

The current stock can meet the demand for another 16 to 17 days. As a result, the total supply, including new shipments, can meet the diesel demand for about a month.

According to BPC data, diesel accounts for about 70 percent of Bangladesh's total fuel consumption, most of which is directly imported.