Eid holiday causes container congestion at Ctg Port

CHITTAGONG, June 12: The Chittagong port is currently experiencing severe container congestion due to delays in the delivery and handling of containers caused by the long Eid-ul-Azha holiday.

Despite the port's operational activities continuing during the holidays, a shortage of workers has led to delays in loading and unloading containers. Additionally, heavy rain in Chattogram from May 28 to June 5 has contributed to the disruption of operational activities. As a result, around 35 per cent of export shipments have experienced schedule disruptions.

More than 5,000 imported containers are usually unloaded daily from ships at the port. But this figure has halved under current circumstances. Container delivery has dropped by more than 80 per cent.

According to sources in the CPA, on June 5, a total of 4,122 TEUs were delivered, 9,720 TEUs handled, and 5,411 TEUs of imported containers were unloaded from ships.

But after that, delivery dropped to 3,505 TEUs on June 6, while the figure stood at 521, 0, 437, 1382, and 1200 TEUs on June 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 respectively.

Besides, unloading import containers also fell sharply. While 5,544 TEUs were unloaded on June 6, the number of containers moved down to 2,835, 308, 2,113, 2,311 and 2400 on June 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 respectively.

According to the CPA officials, all port operations are ongoing and the port is fully prepared to support container deliveries. Chittagong port can hold 53,518 TEU containers, with optimal operational capacity between 30,000 and 35,000 TEUs. As of 11 June, the yard held around 39,000 TEUs.

President of Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association (BICDA) Nurul Qayyum Khan said, "There are 19 off-docks in the country. There was a significant surge in the volume of export cargo sent to the private ICDs prior to Eid-ul-Azha resulting in a number of shut-outs of export goods-loaded containers from individual ICDs due to several reasons."

He said, "Exporters sent export cargoes in advance to ICDs before long Eid holiday mostly without nominating any vessels. Majority of these cargoes are scheduled to be shipped out long after Eid leading to the aggregate volume of the export goods-laded containers in all ICDs hitting around 20,000 TEUs."

This is more than double the usual volume which remains around 8,000 TEUs in normal situation, he said, adding that severe scarcity of labourers after Eid due to exceptionally prolonged Eid holidays disrupts the operational activity of unloading and stuffing of export goods.

General Secretary of BICDA Ruhul Amin said, "ICDs located in the Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) and Patenga areas have been suffering from severe operational disruption due to the dilapidated road from Saltgola Crossing to CEPZ area." Heavy rainfall has been disrupting operational activities off and on in the ICDs, he added.

Due to a lack of adequate pre-stacking yards inside the Chittagong port, almost 85 per cent of the total export goods-loaded containers from the private ICDs need to be sent to vessels' hook-point i.e. alongside the vessels, resulting in a good number of shut-outs at the eleventh hour of vessel departure, he said.

Vice-President of Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CMCCI) and Shipping and Port Adviser of BGMEA A M Mahbub Chowdhury said that Eid holiday, shortage of trucks and lorries, and increased customs duties disrupted the carrying of imported and exported goods.

Vice-President of Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association and Director of Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association Khairul Alam Sujan said the current backlog of goods at the Chittagong port has reached a level that is seriously affecting the country's import-export trade.

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