The shipping ministry yesterday announced that it would waive demurrage charges for imported containers carrying accessories and raw materials for the readymade garment sector which could not be delivered from the Chattogram port as operational activities were hampered for the past seven days.

Violence centring the quota reform movement, the government's imposition of a nationwide curfew, and a five-day internet blackout prevented the goods from being delivered on time from the country's premier seaport.

A press release issued by the shipping ministry's Senior Information Officer Md Jahangir Alam provided the update, but it did not specify a timeframe.

State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury announced the decision at a meeting with a delegation of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) at his office in Dhaka yesterday, the release said.

BGMEA President SM Mannan led the delegation.

During a visit to the port on July 25, the state minister assured the media that the government would waive demurrage charges for delayed delivery of imported containers.

Addressing the meeting with the BGMEA yesterday, the state minister said the port remained operational despite the turmoil of the past week.

But due to the internet blackout, which affected the functioning of the port and customs authority, garment exporters failed to take timely delivery of their import consignments from the port, said the minister.

He said the decision was taken with the aim of assisting RMG factories to continue import and export activities through the port and ensure export shipments within the lead time fixed by the buyers.

BGMEA Vice-President Rakibul Alam, who was present at the meeting, told The Daily Star that the waiver would be effective for import containers that could not be taken out after the expiry of a four-day free stay.

Imported containers are allowed to stay at the port yards free of charge for the first four days after being unloaded from vessels.

For a 20-foot loaded container, the port charges demurrage at $6 per day during the first week following the four free days. It then charges $12 each day during the second week. From then onwards, it charges $24 per day.

For a 40-foot container, the charges are double.

Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) Secretary Md Omar Faruk said they heard about the decision but were yet to get an official letter in this regard.

Upon getting an official decision, the port authority will comply, he said.

Cargo and container delivery from the port yards gradually came to a halt since July 17 due to the volatile situation before the internet blackout, which began on July 18, caused further disruptions.

The lack of assessment facilities due to the absence of the internet as well as the countrywide curfew created a container congestion at the port.

On July 22, the Chattogram port was encumbered with 42,150 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers, occupying over 79 percent of the port's storage capacity of 53,118 TEUs.

Smooth operations of a port are hampered if containers occupy over 60 percent of its storage capacity, port officials said.