Deal signed to start coastal shipping soon

Bangladesh and India yesterday signed the Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) to introduce bilateral shipping service that will boost trade between the neighbouring countries by reducing freight time and cost and easing pressure on land ports.

The agreement stipulates that Bangladesh and India must treat each other's vessels equally in terms of levy and port charges as they do in case of national vessels in international sea transportation, an official statement said.

The SOP was initialed by the chief engineer and ship surveyor of the shipping department of Bangladesh and the joint director general of the Indian shipping ministry here in presence of Indian Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.

After the signing ceremony, Gadkari said the coastal shipping accord would enhance bilateral trade by cutting down costs of logistics, as vessels would be directly moving between ports of India and Bangladesh instead of routing via Singaporean and Sri Lankan ports.

The deal would facilitate trade between northeastern states of India and Bangladesh, he added.

The dates to introduce ships to carry freight and cruise liner will be decided today at a meeting of the shipping secretaries -- Shafiq Alam Mehdi of Bangladesh and Rajiv Kumar of India.

They will discuss issues relating to a Memorandum of Understanding on movement of vessels, protocol to be followed by India to use Chittagong and Mongla ports, payment of transit fees and bank guarantees and dredging of rivers on the shipping route with the help of the World Bank.

The launch of coastal shipping trade will ease the immense pressure on land ports,   Gadkari said.

A rapid growth in bilateral trade has led to congestion at Indo-Bangladesh border and at the land, custom stations/integrated check posts, causing an increase in transportation cost.

The SOP is a follow-up of the bilateral coastal shipping agreement signed during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka in June.