The port handles over 70 percent of Bangladesh's export-import trade,[3] and has been used by India, Nepal and Bhutan for transshipment.

The Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta and the Venetian traveler Niccolo De Conti visited the port in the 14th century.

The historical port had ship trade with Africa, Europe, China and Southeast Asia.

Hence, the port's hinterland included all of colonial Assam (modern Northeast India).

The Bay of Bengal became one of the busiest shipping hubs in the world, rivaling the traffic of ports on the Atlantic.

During World War II, Chittagong port was used by Allied Forces in the Burma Campaign.

After the partition of British India, the governor general of the Dominion of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, visited Chittagong and stressed its importance and future potential.

[18] The Soviet Pacific Fleet was tasked with mine clearing and salvage operations in the port after the war.

[20] The port has benefited from the growth of heavy industry and logistics in the Chittagong Metropolitan Area in the years following independence.

The year 2000 had the highest number of Piracy attacks in the recorded history of Chittagong.

Many of the raids resulted in the theft of mooring lines and Zinc anode and other movable ship equipments.

At least 9 firefighters from Bangladesh fire service and civil defense were reported dead and the death toll reached to 49 by Sunday evening.