Chattogram Bureau :
Container congestion persists at the Chattogram port amid lockdown. The port authority may decide imposing penalty on the unloaded containers carrying imported consignments.
Steps like 24-hour port services and adding two container vessels in the jetty did little to ease container congestion as only about 1,500 TEUs of containers with export goods were shipped from the ICDs between 12 and 23 July last.
Authorities and users are citing a number of reasons for container congestion. One of the reasons cited by the port authority is that traders have not been taking delivery of containers carrying imported goods. Containers are not arriving timely from the private inland container depots (ICDs), which is another reason cited apart from shortage of feeder vessels.
There were 15,533 TEUs of containers with export goods in the ICDs as of 12 July. Eleven days after allowing two more ships at the jetty, the container congestion has been reduced only by 1,500 TEUs till 23 July.
Normally a container is loaded on ship within three to four days of filling the container with goods but at present shipping is not possible even in 10 to 15 days.
The Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) sent a letter to the Bangladesh Shipping Agents’ Association, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on 24 July urging them to unload their imported goods. .
The letter signed by the CPA Secretary Md Omor Faruk said the authority has kept the Chattogram port open round the clock, seven days a week during the Eid-ul-Adha holiday but sadly said the importers were not taking any initiatives to take delivery of their consignments.
“In this situation, a special request was made to unload containers / goods from Chattogram port on an emergency basis. Otherwise, the Chattogram Port Authority may consider imposing a penalty on the unloaded containers,” said the letter.
In this regard, BGMEA’s First Vice President Syed Nazrul Islam said, “The RMG factories were closed during the Eid holidays. Besides, garment owners were not able to take delivery of imported goods from the port due to lockdown.”If the government exempts the garment factories from the lockdown measures, it will be easier to take delivery of imported raw materials for the readymade garment industry at the Chattogram port,” he said. Aside from the container congestion at the port yard, the pile of containers carrying export goods has not yet reduced in the private inland container depots (ICDs) due to lack of feeder vessels carrying containers to the transshipment ports in Colombo or Singapore.
According to the CPA’s letter on 19 July, arrangements have been made to continue export-oriented container shipments with adequate number of equipment and manpower during the Eid-ul-Adha holiday. The letter requested Bicda to bring the containers at the hook point six hours before the departure of the feeder vessel.
The country’s exports goods are brought to 19 private ICDs for loading them into containers before shipping. After loading the products, the containers are taken from the ICDs to the Chattogram Port as per the schedule of the ship.
Chattogram Port Authority Secretary Md Omor Faruk told media that “The port authorities had decided to launch six new feeder vessels on the Chattogram-Colombo route to ease congestion at the transshipment port. All of them will start operations gradually.”
