Two vessels with consignments for the Rooppur Power Plant (NPP) in Pabna have arrived at Mongla port. The ships-- ‘MV Anka Sun’ and ‘MV Sapodilla’ carrying goods weighing 1400.42 MT and 518.42 MT respectively docked at the port’s jetty no 7 and 8 on Sunday evening, Mongla Port Authority (MPA) Harbor Master Captain Shaheen Majid said.   Read more: Return of Russian vessel carrying consignment for Rooppur won’t delay project work: Minister The unloading of goods from the ships started on Sunday night, he added.  Liberian flag carrier MV Sapodilla left St. Petersburg Port of Russia for Mongla Port and docked at the jetty no 8 of the port on Sunday evening.  Another ship, MV Anka Sun left Russian Novorossiysk Sea Port on December 26 docked at the jetty no-7 of Mongla port at the same time. The goods will be taken to the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant by road, said Sadhan Kumar Chakraborty, local shipping agent of MV Anka Sun.  Earlier on January 22, Panama flag carrier Liberty Harvest and Russian flag carrier MV Kamilia carrying goods for the nuke plant docked at the port. Read more: Shipments for Rooppur plant and Bangabandhu Rail Bridge arrive at Mongla port Sanctioned Russian ship Sparta III (Ursa Major) was scheduled to dock at Mongla port in the southwestern part of the country at the end of December last year and unload cargo destined for the Rooppur NPP . But the authorities denied the ship permission to dock at the port after officials got a letter from the US Embassy in Dhaka saying that the ship was on a list of Russian ships sanctioned by the US. On January 22, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said Bangladesh will not accept those Russian ships which are under sanctions.

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen today (January 23, 2023) said China supports any global initiative if it remains conducive to common development worldwide and avoids division or confrontation. He said any initiative by a country should be “open and inclusive” instead of being exclusive to a particular country or against any country. The Chinese ambassador made the remarks when a reporter wanted to know his views on various global initiatives including the Indo-Pacific strategy. Ambassador Wen had a meeting with Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen at his office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Also read: Outgoing Chinese Ambassador Li Jiming hopes Rohingya repatriation will start next year Responding to a question on sanctioned Russian ship heading towards China, the ambassador said he saw the media reports and hoped that any sort of sanction would not affect ordinary people and cooperation with any country. He also said that those were “unilateral sanctions”, and not by the United Nations. Bangladesh has conveyed to the Russian side that they can send any ship except those 69 sanctioned ones carrying equipment for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. Sanctioned Russian ship Sparta III (Ursa Major) was scheduled to dock at Mongla port in Bangladesh at the end of December last year and unload cargo destined for the Rooppur power plant in Pabna. Read more: Bangladesh won’t accept those Russian ships which are under sanctions: FM But the authorities denied the ship permission to dock at the port after officials got a letter from the US Embassy in Dhaka, saying that the ship was on a list of Russian vessels sanctioned by the US. The ship is en route to the port of Shanghai, China, sailing at a speed of 10.4 knots and expected to arrive there on January 31, according to vesselfinder.com which provides real-time vessel data. Asked about the sanctioned ship's location, Foreign Minister Momen said they do not know anything further about the ship but reiterated that Bangladesh will not allow any sanctioned ship. Regarding the situation along the border with Myanmar, he said the relevant ministries are working and they are also in touch with the Bangladesh mission in Myanmar. Read More: Shipments for Rooppur plant and Bangabandhu Rail Bridge arrive at Mongla port "The situation is not good," said the foreign minister, noting that people are moving from one place to another out of panic. He said that no new entry from Myanmar will be allowed amid conflicts between two groups on the Myanmar side.

The consignment meant for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) that had to be turned away from Bangladesh shores due to being carried by a US-sanctioned vessel, may ultimately be sent to their destination by road. This is based on indications that the Russian ship, instead of going all the way back with the vital equipment it was carrying, has hovered in the Bay of Bengal since the incident in late December. Now the BBC is reporting that it may be looking to unload its consignment at the Haldia port in West Bengal. India has been openly defying US sanctions on Russian ships since the start of the war in Ukraine. All Indian ports are thus open to Russia-flagged vessels, even those with sanctions on them. Read more: Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project delayed by Russia-Ukraine War: Yeafesh Osman The Russian-flagged ship arrived at the Mongla port channel at the end of December with goods destined for the Rooppur plant, Mongla Port Authority Secretary Kalachand Singh said. "We have learned that the cargo from the vessel can be unloaded at the Haldia port in India's West Bengal. From there, another vessel could carry the consignment for the Rooppur power plant and deliver it to a port of Bangladesh," he added. Sadhan Kumar, operations officer of Khulna Conveyor Shipping Lines, said: "Earlier shipments for Rooppur NPP were delivered by Russian and neutral, foreign-flagged vessels at the Mongla port. After the unloading of the cargoes at the port, they would be taken to Rooppur." Read More: Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant to get powerful reactors: Rosatom DG The sanctioned Russian ship Sparta III was scheduled to dock at the port in the southwestern part of the country and unload cargo destined for the Rooppur NPP in Pabna. But the authorities denied the ship permission to dock at the port after officials got a letter from the US Embassy in Dhaka saying that the ship was on a list of Russian ships sanctioned by the US.

A Russian ship carrying machinery for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) has arrived at Mongla port.This is the second transport of any Russian vessel to Bangladesh since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February this year.The Liberian flag carrier, MV Dragonball, carrying 5,601 MT of machineries for the power plant, docked at the port’s jetty-7 on Friday afternoon, said Sheikh Fakar Uddin, harbour master of Mongla port."As the depth of the ship is high, it is being lightened by discharging some goods," said harbor master Sheikh Fakar. Read: Petroleum prices to go up from SaturdayLater, the vessel will be brought to Jetty-9 of the port on Saturday afternoon.After that, the machineries will be unloaded at the jetty and sent to the power plant.Earlier, the Russian flag carrier, MV Kamilla, carrying 3,328.237 MT of machineries for the power plant docked at the port’s jetty-6 on Monday afternoon.On October 18, 2021, the last Russian container ship -- MV FESCO ULISS -- carrying equipment for Rooppur NPP arrived in Bangladesh, said Rear Admiral Mohammad Musa, Chairman of Mongla Port.

A Russian ship carrying machineries for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) has arrived at Mongla port. This is the first transport of any Russian vessel to Bangladesh since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February this year. The Russian flag carrier, MV Kamilla, carrying 3,328.237 MT of machineries for the power plant, docked at the port’s jetty-6 on Monday afternoon, Sheikh Fakar Uddin, harbour master of Mongla port told UNB. Also read: 1st ship carrying Ukrainian grain leaves the port of Odesa The ship left Russia’s Temryuk port on June 29 and arrived in Bangladesh through Colombo. On October 18, 2021, the last Russian container ship -- MV FESCO ULISS -- carrying equipment for Rooppur NPP arrived in Bangladesh. “From Monday evening, unloading of the machineries from the ship has started,” said harbor master Sheikh Fakar. Also read: Putin extends fast-track Russian citizenship to all Ukraine HM Dulal, the owner of a company contracted for providing labourers to Rooppur NPP, said, "By Wednesday, all machineries will be unloaded from the ship.” There are 13 crew members on the Russian ship and its shipping agent is Conveyor, said the Mongla port authority.