Sandwip has been declared as a river port, making it the country's only coastal river port.
The Ministry of Shipping issued a notification on Tuesday, defining the boundaries of the Sandwip Coastal River Port in Chittagong.
The following day, Wednesday, this notification was published in the official gazette.
On the same day, in a separate gazette, the government appointed the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) as the custodian of the Sandwip Coastal River Port.
The notification declaring Sandwip as a river port specified the geographical coordinates of the port's boundaries.
Describing the land boundaries, the notification said that the port's jurisdiction extends 50 metres inland from the maximum tidal water level along the shores of Sandwip Island.
Additionally, the canals within the coastal area of Sandwip fall under the jurisdiction of the river port.
This brings the total number of river ports in the country to 54.
Among these, the four major river ports are Dhaka (Sadarghat), Narayanganj, Chandpur, and Barisal.
Additionally, Dhaka's Pangaon serves as the country's container terminal river port.
