Identically Numbered Containers Arrive at Port

Separately, two containers bearing the same distinctive number landed at the Chattogram port. The incident was discovered by the port's computerized Container Terminal Management System (CTMS).

The container number, which is a distinctive alpha-numeric sequence of four letters and seven numbers used to identify containers globally, is the most significant and intricate symbol on the door. The classification body International Standards Organization (ISO) is in charge of assigning it.

Officials were taken aback since, among the approximately 16.4 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers now in use worldwide, each container typically receives a unique number that allows for identification, tracking, and knowledge of its whereabouts.

Both containers, according to the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), have the same number. Their seal numbers differ.

One container, which had been unloaded at the port pier from a ship called Oil Haq, contained solar pumping equipment that the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board had imported. The other container, supplied by a private company called Smart Technologies, included computer equipment such as printers, scanners, mice, and keyboards that were unloaded from the ship Cape Syros.

Indian company Sea Lloyd Shipping Lines Private Ltd is the owner of both containers. In Bangladesh, it is represented locally by Alvi Line (BD) Ltd.

The local agency had been advised by Sea Lloyd that the manufacturer of one of the containers was to blame for the error.