Desk Report,
Initiative to reduce ship traffic congestion
Ships are arriving one after another with containerized goods. After unloading, these ships are leaving the port with export containers. The congestion of container ships at the port is increasing as they cannot handle the pressure of transporting goods. To reduce this congestion, the port authority wants to reduce the number of container ships plying the Chittagong port route.
Initiative to reduce ship traffic congestion
The steps taken by the port to ensure that fewer ships arrive have shocked shipping agents. Leaders of the Shipping Agents Association say that there is no precedent in the world for taking steps to reduce the number of ships plying at any port except during disasters. Rather, shipping companies are encouraged to load ships at various ports or container terminals around the world. The port authority or terminal operating companies have marketing or trade teams for this purpose. The opposite is happening in Chittagong. According to port sources, 118 container ships are now approved for regular movement on the Chittagong port route. These ships ply from the port to various ports in Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and China. A decision was taken at a port meeting on July 20 to reduce the number of ships plying the port route. The Shipping Agents Association was asked to provide the port with a list of the 15 ships to be reduced. The reason given was that the reputation of Chittagong Port in the outside world was being tarnished due to the ship congestion. The meeting was presided over by Port Chairman Rear Admiral SM Moniruzzaman.
When contacted on the port chairman’s mobile phone to inquire about this, he did not pick up the phone. He did not respond to text messages.
However, shipping agents have not yet given the names of any ships to the port that will be withdrawn. As the list was not provided, last Tuesday, Port Deputy Conservator Captain Md. Zahirul Islam wrote to the chairman of the Shipping Agents Association to provide information on the 15 ships that will be withdrawn from this route within 24 hours (Wednesday).
Shipping Agents Association Chairman Syed Mohammad Arif said, this initiative of the port is like cutting off the head for a headache. The reasons for the ship congestion at the port should be identified and resolved on an urgent basis. Reducing the number of ships will not reduce the congestion.
Normally, five to six ships wait at the outer anchorage of the port. But now, due to the congestion, each ship with a crane has to wait at sea for four to 10 days to be moored at the jetty.
Shipping and port officials said that the port’s operations have been disrupted due to the 10-day Eid-ul-Azha holiday, two transport strikes, the shutdown program of the customs and the slowness of the customs duty software. The container ship congestion that has arisen due to this is still not decreasing. Because, the transportation of goods in containers is increasing.
In such a situation, if the port’s new initiative reduces the number of ships, shipping agents said that there will be a container congestion in the ports of Singapore, Malaysia and Sri Lanka towards Bangladesh. Similarly, the pile of containers of export products destined for Europe and America through these ports may increase in the depots.
When asked, Muntasir Rubaiyat, Assistant Vice President and Head of Operations of GBX Logistics Limited, which operates container ships, told Prothom Alo that reducing the number of ships on the port route will harm import-export trade. Because, if demand increases, the cost of container transportation may increase. Consumers may be the victims.
