Over 3,000 containers stuck at Indian port

Over 3,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of import-laden containers bound for Bangladesh are stranded at the Indian port of Krishnapatnam as the route's two sole vessels no longer had permission to berth at the Chattogram port.

The permission expired last March and the feeder vessels' operator has not applied for a renewal, said officials of Chittagong Port Authority.

SSL Kochi and SSL Kutch were floated on the Chattogram-Krishnapatnam route in February last year by the Shreyas Shipping and Logistics, a concern of Transworld Feeders.

It came against the backdrop of prospects created through the launching of a Southeast India-Europe Express service by several leading shipping lines on the Krishnapatnam-Chennai-Colombo-Europe route.

Officials of Karnaphuli, the Shreyas' local agent, said they applied to ply the two on the route in October 2019 and got the CPA's permission in January 2020.

But on March 2, 2020, the CPA in a letter informed the permission was for only two months, a senior official of Karnaphuli told The Daily Star yesterday.

He said in a reply letter they urged extending their permission considering their huge investment.

The CPA officials gave their verbal permission, based on which the vessels had been running for the past 18 months till July this year.

The CPA was yet to give its permission in writing, he said.

Karnaphuli says they ran at least two round trips every month, bringing in 1,000 TEUs and taking away 800 TEUs on an average.

Though there was a lack of cargo at the beginning, the Indian port later became an alternative for many carriers due to acute congestion at the four popular transhipment ports of Colombo, Singapore, Port Klang and Tanjung Pelepas.

In late June, German shipper Hapag-Lloyd, which is tasked with moving the 3,000 TEUs currently stranded, temporarily suspended booking Bangladesh-bound import containers via Singapore due to an acute backlog at the Singaporean transhipment port.

Colombo and Krishnapatnam are being preferred over the others since June, said Abul Kalam Azad, general manager (operation) of GBX Logistics, Hapag-Llyod's local agent.

But the CPA stopped giving berthing permission to the two vessels since last month, he said.

SSL Kochi, carrying 793 TEUs of import-laden containers, arrived at the outer anchorage on July 19 and waited for 10 days while SSL Kutch, carrying 987 TEUs of import-laden containers, arrived on July 24 and was denied berthing for six days.

The official said the CPA gave berthing permission after repeated requests on July 29 and August 1 respectively but informed none would be further provided.

The two vessels do not operate regularly due to a lack of cargo, said CPA Director (Traffic) Enamul Karim.

"We asked the operator to follow the procedure for getting the CPA's approval," he said.

An official of Karnaphuli said they already sent a letter to the CPA on August 2 seeking permission for regular vessel operations but were yet to get a response.