TDS Desk

Water transport workers’ nationwide strike has almost halted the unloading of cargo from mother vessels and the transportation of goods across the country.

According to ship handling operators, shipping agents, and sources at Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), the unloading of around 4.44 lakh tonnes of import cargo from at least 20 mother vessels anchored at Kutubdia and the outer anchorage of Chattogram port has been suspended due to the work abstention since early hours.

Besides, 10.50 lakh tonnes of goods are stuck in 773 lighter ships which were on their way or supposed to unload those at different ghats across the country, according to Bangladesh Water Transport Coordination Cell (BWTCC), a private organisation that monitors the operations of lighter vessels.

These goods include mostly commodity items like wheat, sugar, lentils, yellow peas, salt, edible oil, coal, stone, industrial raw materials like cement clinker, slag, and fertiliser.

Bangladesh Water Transport Workers Federation announced the indefinite work abstention demanding justice for the killing of seven crewmen of the lighter vessel MV Al-Bakhera in Chandpur on Monday. They also demanded the overall safety of water transportation workers.

Seven workers of the vessel carrying 720 tonnes of urea from Chattogram to Baghabari met a tragic end on Monday while anchored in Chandpur’s Haimchar area.

Federation President Shah Alam said the statement from law enforcers that Akash Mondol (Irfan), a crew, killed the seven crew alone has been rejected by the workers.

“We demand a proper investigation by the government,” he said vowing to continue the work abstention until their demands are met.

Their demands include unearthing the truth behind the murders, arrest of real culprits, compensation for the deceased and injured, and overall security for water transport workers on inland water routes stretching from Kutubdia to Chandpur.

Over 50 percent of imported cargo is unloaded from bigger vessels to smaller ones at the outer anchorage of Chattogram Port and then transported to around 60 destinations across the country.

According to BWTCC, 738 lighter vessels carrying 10.11 lakh tonnes of cargo got stranded at 57 points including Chattogram, Dhaka, Narayanganj, Barishal, Chandpur, Khulna, Baghabari, and Ashuganj.

BWTCC allocated 97 lighter vessels to unload imported cargo from 20 mother vessels at Kutubdia and outer anchorage on Wednesday and Thursday.

Of those, 35 ships have already unloaded 45300 tonnes of cargo, which remained stuck at Chattogram port. The rest 62 ships could not start unloading activities, a BWTCC official said.