Ctg port overburdened with import containers

The yards at the Chattogram port, which are designated for storing containers loaded with imports, exceeded their capacity yesterday as daily handovers to consignees did not gain pace during the Eid-ul-Azha holiday over the past week.

Berth operators running different terminals of the port, however, said the situation has yet to adversely impact vessel operations.

However, the scenario may worsen this week if the deliveries do not return to normalcy in the next few days, they said.

The port's yards have a container storage capacity of 53,518 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units). In case of import-laden containers, it is 44,018 TEUs.

Around 95 percent of import containers that arrive at the port are full container load (FCL) ones.

An FCL refers to a shipping method where a single shipper's goods occupy the entire space within a shipping container

The port's yards have a capacity to store 40,368 TEUs of such FCL containers.

As of yesterday morning, a total of 40,656 TEUs of FCL containers were lying at the port yards, exceeding the capacity.

Port users blamed poor daily deliveries since the day before Eid day, meaning June 7, for the accumulation. The number of FCL containers was at 28,000 TEUs before Eid.

Daily deliveries from the port average at 4,500 TEUs to 5,000 TEUs.

The deliveries dropped to less than 2,000 TEUs during the Eid holiday that ended last Saturday.

Nazmul Hoque, executive director of Saif Powertec Limited that operates New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT), said despite the accumulation, vessel operations at the port's jetties were not much disrupted.

Most vessels left the NCT jetties within 48 hours in the last few days, he said.

A lot of space had been vacated prior to the Eid as importers took away good volumes every day since a pen-down programme of customs officials was withdrawn, he explained.

"Such spaces in the yards helped us manage the vessel operations during the holidays. That is why the vessel congestion is yet to turn worse," Hoque said.

According to the port data, the number of container vessels waiting for berth at the outer anchorage stood at 10 yesterday.

There were 20 vessels during the pen-down programme of the NBR officials last month.

Giving a similar opinion, Fazle Ekram Chowdhury, president of a berth operators' association, said no vessel faced that much of a delay in departure so far.

Chowdhury, however, underscored the need for delivery activities to gain momentum so that the situation does not go out of control.

If daily deliveries do not return to normalcy in the next few days, container congestion would turn acute and it would disrupt all types of port operations, he warned.

CPA acting secretary Md Nasir Uddin hoped that the deliveries would get back its usual pace as most related offices and factories have opened after the Eid holidays.