Ctg port faces fresh congestion

Container congestion has resurfaced in the Chittagong port with the storage capacity being exceeded yesterday, the general consensus reasoning the unavailability of adequate transport for the Eid-ul-Azha holiday.

The poor presence of staff of clearing and forwarding (C&F) agents was also to blame as per officials of the port, which stayed closed for 12 hours on September 2, when Eid was celebrated.

There were 34,160 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in the port's container yards the day before Eid.

Yesterday morning the figure reached 41,000 TEUs, well past the 36,357-TEU capacity. 

The congestion was acute at yards designated to hold 26,857 TEUs of imported goods. There were 37,550 TEUs there, 6,673 of those waiting to be taken away to privately-owned inland container depots (ICD).

At any given time, the number of containers waiting to be taken to ICDs hover between 2,000 to 2,500.

There are 16 ICDs in Chittagong, tasked with unpacking 37 types of imported goods from containers and delivering those to importers. On an average, they handle 20 percent of the port's imports-laden containers.

On an average, over 4,000 TEUs are delivered daily from the port.

On September 3, only 482 TEUs were delivered.  The next two days saw 1,338 and 2,233 TEUs respectively.

Nurul Qayyum Khan, president of Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association, said the congestion has been prevailing since May.

Informing that the ICDs were closed from 9:00pm on September 1 to 8:00am on September 3, Khan said they already started speeding up activities and the situation would be eased within a few days.

Loading and unloading of containers at the jetties have also slightly slowed down.

In the last 24 hours till 8:00am yesterday, only 2622 TEUs were unloaded from ships while 3,420 TEUs loaded. The 24-hour average for both is around 4,000 TEUs.

Berth operators and shipping agents, however, said vessels were sailing on time with their cargoes and the congestion created some problems.

Fazle Ekram Chowdhury, president of Ship Handling and Terminal Operator Owners Association, said problems in operating the berths were still tolerable.

The situation would improve within three to four days, he said.

Ahsanul Hoque, chairman of Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association (BSAA), echoed the same. He said the vessels were sailing on time with gearless ones being provided service within 48 hours and geared ones by 72 hours.

Chittagong Customs C&F Agents Association President AKM Akhter Hossain said most of the C&F firms started working following Eid day but the problem lied with the lack of vehicles.

There is a restriction on the movement of goods-carrying vehicles on highways some days before and after Eid. The transporters started operation since Tuesday and delivery would speed up from today, he hoped.

Blaming importers for not taking away their cargoes on time, Chittagong Port Authority Member (admin and planning) Md Zafar Alam also reasoned a shortage of vehicles for the congestion.

Many importers and their C&F agents were ready to take the cargoes but they did not find trucks and trailers as the workers went on Eid vacation. Mahbubul Alam, president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also said vehicular shortage slowed down the delivery.

He said all should utilise the next few working days to speed up the delivery activities to decongest the port.