14,000 export containers piled up due to NBR shutdown

Around 14,000 export-bound containers have accumulated at 19 private container depots in Chattogram following a two-day work stoppage by customs officials and staff.

Although the programme was called off on Sunday night, no export goods were shipped that day. Some operations, including export clearance, resumed in the evening.

Information from the port, shipping agents, and container depots confirmed that on the first day of the programme—Saturday—63 containers missed shipment as vessels departed Chattogram Port without them. On the second day, three vessels left port without loading 3,680 containers. As a result, the total number of stranded export containers at the depots exceeded 14,000. Even though the shutdown has ended, the backlog means many of these goods are unlikely to be shipped on time.

Most of the delayed shipments consist of garment products, the backbone of Bangladesh’s export sector. One such example is the Asian-Daff Group in Chattogram, which had 30 containers scheduled for shipment to the United States. Those too are now caught in the logjam.

“This two-day shutdown has caused irreparable damage to the garment industry,” said MA Salam, Managing Director of Asian-Daff Group, speaking to Prothom Alo. “None of the goods in the stalled containers will reach buyers on time.”

Without approval from the customs, no operation such as unloading containers from ships, clearing imported goods, or exporting products can be completed. Because of the shutdown programme of the customs officers and staff, no officials were present at their workplaces on Saturday, and thus no approvals were issued.

As a result, import-export operations remained suspended on Saturday. However, container loading and unloading proceeded based on approvals issued the previous day. A total of 139 containers were unloaded that day.

The real impact of the shutdown programme was actually felt on Sunday. Three vessels were scheduled to leave the port on this day, but could not leave as the export containers did not arrive from the depots.

One of the three vessels, the ‘AS Cecilia’ was supposed to leave for Singapore with 564 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units). From there, the containers were to be transferred to larger Europe and America-bound vessels.

Similarly, 1,460 TEUs were meant to be exported on the ‘Express Nilwala’, and 1,666 TEUs on the ‘Hong Da Jin-68’ ship. All three ships are now anchored idly at the jetty without having the export containers.

The ship, ‘AS Cecilia’ is a vessel of the Switzerland-based ‘Mediterranean Shipping Company’. Head of operations and logistics at the company, Azmir Hossain Chowdhury told Prothom Alo that the vessel couldn’t depart as the export containers did not arrive from the depot.

These containers were to be sent to Singapore, and then transferred onto large vessels headed for Europe and America. Now, the containers cannot be transferred to the larger vessel bound for America and Europe on time.

According to shipping company officials, export goods are first brought from factories to one of 19 depots in Chattogram. After customs clearance, the goods are packed into containers and transported to the port for loading onto vessels as per the booking schedule.

A congestion of container vessels has been created at the port in the impact of the two-day shut down programme. For instance, 13 vessels were waiting at sea waiting to anchor at the jetty before the protest began. By the second day of the protest, that number rose to 21.

This means importers will now face longer delays in receiving their goods. Meanwhile, the number of containers gathered on the port yard surged from around 2,000 to 41,000. This will also disrupt the overall operations of the port.

Md Omar Faruk, secretary of Chittagong Port Authorirty, told Prothom Alo that the export and import operations were suspended for two days due to the customs stuff’s protest. It resulted in a congestion of ships at sea and pileup of containers at the port yard.

The government on Sunday declared all categories of positions within the National Board of Revenue (NBR) as essential services. The government also called upon the protesting officers and employees to return to their workstations. And, operations resumed at Chattogram Customs House on a limited scale after that.

When contacted, Ruhul Amin Sikder, secretary general of the Private Container Depot Association, told Prothom Alo that customs clearance of export goods began at the depots in the evening.