March 29, 2024, 3:25 pm


Staff Correspondent

Published:
2021-11-09 01:26:17 BdST

Stakeholders fear catastrophe as cargo transport remains halted


Stakeholders involved in Bangladesh’s export trade fear catastrophe as at least 4,000 TEUs of shipping containers could not reach the Chittagong port since Friday, due to the transport strike in the country.

No ships carrying export goods left the port on Sunday, and port officials could not confirm whether these vessels will be able to leave the port on Monday with their designated cargo.

The halted transportation of containers by road is making the port’s situation more complicated with each passing hour, said Ruhul Amin Biplob, Secretary of the Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA).

The bus operators withdrew their strike with immediate effect on Sunday evening after the government raised long-route bus fares by 27 percent, and hiked bus fares inside city corporation areas to Tk 2.15 per kilometre. But cargo transporters made no such announcements till the filing of this report.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association’s (BGMEA) Vice President Syed Nazrul Islam said, “This stalemate has to end now, otherwise the garment industry’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic will come to a grinding halt.

“If the strike continues like this, there would be a catastrophe in the export trade. It is illegal to create such a hostage situation. The government should end the transport strike by any means necessary to normalise the ongoing situation.”

BGMEA and shipping sector stakeholders say clothing item trade increases significantly in the European and US markets at the end of each year because of Christmas celebrations. If Bangladesh fails to export garment products within the deadline, buyers will not be able to market these products in time.

If the goods are not shipped within schedule time, those will reach their destinations in at least 10-15 days later due to unavailability of ships in transshipment ports Singapore and Colombo, they added.

5 ships set to leave port Monday

At least five ships are expected to leave Chittagong port with export consignment on Monday. Among those, three vessels – AS Sicilia, Spirit of Bangkok and Xpress Lhotse – were set to leave on Sunday morning, but they have not yet received the delivery of scheduled consignment.

As these ships yet to receive export goods such as readymade garments, jute items and frozen food within the scheduled time, these vessels extended their stay at the port for another 24 hours.

Along with these three vessels, two ships named Kalamoti Trader and SOL Hind are set to leave the port on Monday.

Ali Hossain, manager (operation) of Crown Shipping Line private ltd – the shipping agent of AS Sicilia feeder vessel on Chattogram-Colombo route, said, “We had thought that the strike would end on Sunday, so SA Sicilia stayed at the port for an extra day.

“We have no reason to continue our stay here if the strike keeps going.”

Muntasir Rubayat, head of operations of GBX Logistics Ltd – the shipping agent of SOL Hind, said, “Although our schedule is set for leaving on Monday, the containers of export goods have not arrived as yet. It is not clear whether this ship would leave or stay further.”

Port sources said ship owners must pay extra charges to extend their stay at the port, which is at least $1,000 – $3,000. Apart from this, if a ship stays in the port for additional days, the ship owner must pay other charges too.

On the issue, Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) Secretary Omar Faruque said, “If shipping agents want their vessels to wait at the port’s jetty they can do so until their containers are loaded.

“There are now six container ships waiting at the outer anchorage of the port, and as of Sunday, there are enough jetties for berthing these ships.”

‘No chance of backing down’

Transport owners and workers had announced the strike following a recent hike of fuel oil prices. Bus operators resumed their services on Monday, but freight transport remained halted till the filing of this report.

“Although government officials held talks with public transport owners at various levels, no such discussion has been held yet with freight owners,” said Chowdhury Zafar Alam, secretary general of the Truck-Covered Van-Prime Movers Owners Association.

“There is no chance of backing down from this movement until the government addresses our demands,” he added.

The port yard, which has a capacity of about 49,000 TEUs, has accumulated about 40,000 TEUs of containers as of Sunday. Besides, private inland container depots now have about 51,000 TEUs containers against their capacity of 78,000 TEUs.

The pre-shipping of all kinds of export goods is done at 19 ICDs, which also handle the post-shipment of 36 types of imported goods.

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