TDS Desk:

Transportation of containers to and from the Chattogram port came to an almost halt due to the non-cooperation movement, curfew and the subsequent situation in the country, hampering the export-import businesses to a great extent.

Besides, activities at the Chattogram Customs House have also been suspended since 2:00 pm on Tuesday on security grounds.

The sector insiders feared container and vessel congestions at the port further and urged for immediate steps to ease transportation.

Sources at Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) said loading and unloading of containers and bulk cargoes inside the port was almost normal, but the usual delivery could not be made due to a lack of vehicles.

According to available data from the CPA, 3,674 Twenty Equivalent Unit (TEU) containers were handled inside the port.

Only 329 containers were delivered to the consignee and the private Inland Container Depots within 24 hours till 8am on Tuesday, against the average delivery of around 4,000 containers per day.

The disruption is increasing the number of containers lying in the port yards slashing the required space for operation.

A total of 44,117 containers were lying on the port yards till Tuesday morning, against the total storing capacity of 53,581 TEUs, said the CPA Secretary Omar Faruq.

He said due to the situation prevailing in the country over the last three days, the consignees were not taking delivery of goods, causing an increase in the number of stocked containers.

“There is no problem in loading and unloading of containers inside the port and we hope to get the problem solved soon,” he said.

Leading Terminal Operator SaifPowertec Executive Director (ED) NazmulHoque told the Daily Sun that their performance dropped by 40% due to the ongoing situation and decreasing operational space on the port yards.

“We usually handle 3,500 TEU containers in 24 hours, but the number now dropped to 2,000 TEUs,” he said.

Though the situation started improving after the first spell of disruption centring on the quota reform movement, the ongoing crisis is decreasing the operational space again fast, said the ED.

“We are now keeping the containers on the passages kept for vehicle movement,” said Nazmul adding that it will take some two months to go back to the previous state.

Bangladesh Covered Van-Truck-Prime Mover Goods Transportation Owners Association Secretary General Chowdhury Zafar Ahmed said usually some 5,500-6,000 vehicles enter the port for delivery every day.

“Many of the owners are calling us over the phone from different parts of the country to know about the security measures, but we are not getting assurance from anyone,” he said.

Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association Vice President KhairulAlam Suzan said security for the transportation of goods to and from the port should be ensured immediately to make confidence among transport owners and workers.

Prolonged disruption in export-import activities centring the port will surely cause huge losses to the businesspeople, he added.