MPL to Clear 150 Containers Daily During Ramadan

Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) has announced plans to clear 150 containers per day, except on Fridays, during the month of Ramadan.

Speaking at a press conference held at MPL, Head of Port Operations Ilyas Mohamed stated that the target is to clear 150 containers daily during full operation and 100 containers on half days. He added that, as in previous years, priority would be given to clearing perishable goods and general cargo as quickly as possible.

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Container clearance operations will take place every day except Fridays throughout Ramadan.

Ilyas highlighted space constraints at the MPL port as a challenge to unloading goods efficiently. To address this, efforts will be made over the next two months to transfer empty containers to Thilafushi. The construction of the container terminal has been contracted to the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC).

At the start of last year, 3,000 containers were stored at the port, whereas the capacity has now increased to approximately 5,100 containers. Despite these efforts to expand available space, the current capacity remains insufficient to accommodate the volume of imports, Ilyas said.

He also noted that while general cargo was previously unloaded from two vessels at a time, operations have now been expanded to handle three vessels simultaneously. Additionally, 19 extra staff have been appointed to support these operations.

To facilitate the handling of highly perishable goods, storage facilities will be available at the godown, and a temporary tent has been set up in Hulhumalé to streamline the import of food produce.