Latest update on Cyclone Mocha 12/05/23

Following on from yesterday's update, we have received further details from our partner in Bangladesh:

The Cyclonic Storm ‘MOCHA’ over the Southeast Bay and adjoining Central Bay moved slightly Northwards over the same area and was centered at 0300 AM today (12 May 2023) about 1125 kms South-Southwest of Chattogram port, 1055 kms South-Southwest of Cox’s Bazar Port, 1085 kms South-Southwest of Mongla port and 1050 kms South-Southwest of Payra Port. It is likely to move in a North-Northeasterly direction and intensify further.

The maritime ports of Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Mongla and Payra have been advised to hoist local cautionary signal number Two. Vessel commands are advised to check and keep close monitoring with the Port Control channel-12.

Until now there is no impact on Chittagong Port and CFS operations and NO impact on any shipments.

We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will provide further updates when available.

Update from Saturday 13 May 2023

As signal 08/ EIGHT hoisted by Metrology Dept, this is to inform on the potential disruption of Cyclone MOCHA on vessels line up inside Port . As you may be aware, Cyclone MOCHA is currently heading towards Bangladesh and is expected to make landfall within the next two days, possibly on 14th May.

For this reason, CPA (Chittagong Port Authority) haul out all the vessels and port operations at Chittagong have been fully suspended. As a result, all inland ICD (CFS) & PICT movements have been fully stopped as well. This will propagate a backlog in cargo and unfortunately will lead to increase the ICD/PICT dispatch time. Inside CFS, very little unloading and loading operation is going on. But this might also be suspended if situation become worse.    

Weather is gloomy with rain & wind. It is anticipated that some vessels may be affected by the cyclone, resulting in delays and disruptions to their schedules. Specifically, the following impacts are expected:

1. All vessels need to go at outer anchorage by 13th as per CPA’s directive until the signal lower down. Waiting/ Pending Op vessels might take berth/ re-berth on 15th May.
2. All vessels that are already waiting at the outer anchorage will experience a delay of 3-4 days before they can berth.
3. All upcoming vessels have been instructed to come with slow speed or remain out of the radius of 400 kilometers to avoid the impact of the cyclone.

Find the list of current vessels with their status: