Maritime experts, engineers and policymakers on Tuesday called for embedding occupational safety, capacity building, innovation, and sustainability into the country鈥檚 port operation system to ensure resilient and green growth.
The call came at the second workshop of a series titled 鈥楩rom risk to resilience: building safe and green ports in Bangladesh鈥� organised by Ocean Centres Bangladesh at Hotel Agrabad in Chattogram city.
Former chairman of both the Chattogram and Mongla Port Authorities retired Rear Admiral Mohammad Shahjahan attended the programme as chief guest.
In separate sessions, thematic papers and practical strategies were presented by the chief guest, National Maritime Institute principal Captain Ataur Rahman, adjunct faculty at Bangladesh Maritime University retired Captain Sayeed M Hassan, and chief engineer and chairman of Prantik Group Md Golam Sarwar.
Calling the country鈥檚 ports as inherently high-risk zones, retired Rear Admiral Mohammad Shahjahan at the workshop referred to the concept of 鈥榩revention through design鈥� and stressed that safety must be built into port infrastructure planning from the very beginning.
Organisational and legal barriers often stood in the way of effective safety practices, he said, stressing that proactive strategies were essential not only to prevent accidents but also to enhance efficiency, safeguard the environment and comply with international standards.
Captain Ataur Rahman underlined the necessity of training and capacity building to meet global safety and environmental standards, pointing to congestion, risks and environmental impacts as pressing challenges.
Captain Sayeed M Hassan highlighted the role of resilient seaports in advancing Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 8 concerning decent work, SDG 9 regarding infrastructure and innovation, and SDG 13 about climate action, calling for a multidimensional resilience framework.
Former director general of the Department of Shipping retired Commodore Syed Ariful Islam facilitated the session, while Ocean Centres Bangladesh country lead retired Commodore Mohammad Abdur Razzak coordinated.
The workshop was organised at the initiative of the United Nations Global Compact and Lloyd鈥檚 Register Foundation.
