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Depots surrounding Chittagong seaport already brimming with goods-laden boxes, further disruptions feared as workers of prime-mover trailers, the main carrier of containers to and from the port, will suspend operations for 12 hours today for association elections.
Depot owners and shipping agents say due to the suspension of operations by Chittagong District Prime Mover Trailer, Concrete Mixer, Flatbed and Drumtruck Labour Union, carrying at least 1,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) of export containers will be disrupted.
At the same time, more 1,000 TEUs of inbound containers will also face the disruption during the day, they say.
Ruhul Amin Sikder, Secretary-General of Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA), told the FE Sunday usually some 2,000 laden containers are being transported from the depots to the port jetties in a 24-hour period.
If the workers of the prime-mover trailers suspend work for 12 hours Monday, transportation of some 1,000 TEUs of containers can be disrupted.
Similarly, since the same vehicles carry import boxes from the port yards to the depots on return trips, due to the work suspension transportation of a similar number of inbound boxes also can be disrupted, he says.
"We requested the workers to go for voting in phases so that container transportation is not disrupted," he told the FE. Asked whether ships may face delays in leaving port due to container shutout, Mr Sikder said if goods-laden boxes do not reach port jetties in time, ships may leave the port by loading empty boxes.
According to him, on Sunday, there were nearly 17,000 TEUs of outbound export-cargo-laden containers in the inland container depots in Chittagong.
A member of the Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association (BSAA) said this is a "very lame excuse" to keep suspended transportation of boxes from depots to the port yards.
They could have joined voting in phases so that works are not disrupted.
He said if a box fails to come in time to the port jetty from depot, the box fails to go onboard to the designated ship, and needs to wait for the next ships.
"And, the delay in departure of a ship involves huge costs which ultimately the trade bears," he said.
syful-islam@outlook.com