Pollution levels in the area are reaching dangerous levels but critics say the Chittagong port lacks the laws and logistical back-up to stop the dumping of harmful waste by many of the average 1,600 local and foreign vessels that use the port every year.

"Vessels including foreign ones find the Chittagong port and its outer anchorage a safe dumping area for their waste, taking advantage of poor law and lax implementation," Habibur Rahman, chief nautical officer of the department of shipping, told Reuters. Chittagong port handles more than 80 percent of Bangladesh's foreign trade.

"We detected about 500 offending vessels over the last two years and fined them but this could not stop the practice," said Mohammad Munir Chowdhury, a magistrate with the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA).

But another official said the authority was doing nothing to tackle the problem.

"Our repeated pleas to the CPA to create necessary provisions for clearing garbage on shore and at sea have fallen on deaf ears," said Mohammed Mosharraf Hossain, Director of Chittagong Environment Department.

Any other international port would impose heavy penalties or even seize ships if they violated marine laws or polluted the sea, he said.