Chittagong Port: Waiting time to receive goods decreasing

It had almost become the norm for ships at Chittagong Port to wait for about a week before berthing at the jetty. As a result, even after ships' arrival, traders had to wait further to receive their goods.

However, this waiting time has started to decrease since February.

Two container vessels equipped with cranes berthed at the port’s General Cargo Berth (GCB) just a day or two after arriving in the port’s waters last Tuesday.

For ships without cranes, the waiting period has now dropped from 7–10 days to about 4 days. Similarly, the number of vessels waiting at sea to berth at the jetty has declined from 14–15 to just 6 days.

Raw materials for export-oriented industries, especially the garment sector, are imported in containers. Any delay in receiving goods slows down production.

Likewise, all exports are shipped in containers. Although entrepreneurs had been struggling with this situation for nearly six months, the recent improvement has brought them some relief.

SM Abu Tayab, President of the Chattogram Chamber of the International Business Forum of Bangladesh and Director of BGMEA, told Prothom Alo, “Entrepreneurs in the production sector have suffered for a long time due to port congestion. Now that the congestion has eased, there will be some relief, but this improvement must be maintained. Delays in receiving goods push us behind in global competition.”

Shipping agents said that the year had begun with Chittagong Port free from vessel congestion. At the start of the year, ships could berth the same day or the next day upon arrival, with a maximum waiting time of one day.

But in February, a three-day transport strike disrupted loading, unloading, and delivery of containers, increasing vessel waiting times.

Before normalcy could return, two long Eid holidays, more transport strikes, and NBR’s protest programmes in June (ahead of the fiscal year’s end) prolonged the congestion.

During this congestion, container transport pressure also increased, worsening the situation. On some days, as many as 20–24 ships had to wait at sea to berth at the jetty. However, since the start of this week, things have begun to normalise. Last Tuesday, only six container vessels were waiting to berth.

Khairul Alam Sujan, Director of the Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association, told Prothom Alo, “The situation has improved because more container vessels are being berthed at the jetties compared to before, and the pace of operations at the terminals has increased. Particularly, the New Mooring Terminal, run by Chittagong Drydock Limited (a Navy enterprise), has seen faster handling, which helped reduce congestion.”

Shipping agents also noted that from July, the first month of the current fiscal year, export-import pressure through the port has been rising again.

New purchase orders are coming due to US counter-tariffs. Additionally, India has imposed restrictions on the export of some products through land ports, pushing a large share of India-bound exports to seaports.

In July, 86,000 containers of goods were exported through the port—38 per cent higher than the same period last year. Meanwhile, 123,000 import containers arrived, 10 per cent higher than last year’s figure.

In this situation, shipping agents said the port authority has not yet withdrawn the decision, taken last July during severe congestion, to reduce the number of ships calling at Chittagong. Back then, the authority had planned to cut at least 15 ships from the route, though agents did not agree. The authority has again called shipping companies to discuss reducing vessel calls.

Muntasir Rubaiyat, Assistant Vice President and Head of Operations at GBX Logistics Ltd, a container shipping company, told ProthomAlo, “There is no vessel congestion at the port now. The situation has greatly improved. However, many containers remain piled up at transshipment ports like Singapore and Colombo. Exports from Bangladesh have also increased. If the number of ships is reduced in this situation, freight charges may go up.”

Asked about port measures, Port Secretary Md Omar Faruk told Prothom Alo, “More container vessels are being berthed at the jetties than before, and handling capacity has increased. This has reduced vessel congestion. Whether or not the number of ships will be reduced depends on the report of the committee concerned.”