Maldives Ports Limited clears 1,958 containers last week, mostly rice and flour

Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) has reported that it cleared 1,958 containers last week, with the majority being basic food items such as rice and flour. According to statistics released by MPL, during the last week of October, containers were cleared from both container-carrying vessels and general cargo ships. This includes consignments brought by 1,472 container-carrying vessels and 486 general cargo ships, which refer to goods held pending payment upon sale. A total of 41,959.34 freight tons of cargo was cleared during this period, with 39,051.74 freight tons via container-carrying vessels and 2,907.6 freight tons via general cargo ships. Last week, two container-carrying vessels and five general cargo ships arrived at Male Business Port, while four container-carrying vessels and eight general cargo ships departed. In terms of container operations, the number of unloaded containers was 1,176, and loaded containers was 1,963, totaling 3,139 operations. Additionally, 67,869 packages of perishable goods such as fruits and vegetables were cleared. The most frequently cleared basic food items included 16,278 cases of rice, 11,519 baskets of flour, 9,133 cases of sugar, 6,556 baskets of onions, and 6,173 cases of tomatoes. The government is currently working on converting the country's commercial port to Thilafushi, with plans to officially open and begin services on November 11 of next year, which is expected to accelerate MPL's operations.