Foreign feeder vessels carrying cargos to and from Chittagong seaport now lament severe operation disruptions and resultant penal costs for getting caught in toils of law.
Operators and port sources said the complications arose as the authorities started strict application of rules under the Bangladesh Flag Vessel (Protection) Act 2019 that warrants waiver certification for loading and unloading exports and imports.
Last week and this week, too, at least five vessels of two feeder operators experienced such service disruptions due to the delay in waiver-certificate issuance by the authority concentred.
Due to this complication foreign feeder operators are incurring huge financial losses in operating ships to and from Bangladeshi ports, shipping agents say.
Singapore headquartered X-Press Feeders in a Customer Advisory on Friday informed about the "current service disruption" facing its service vessels at Chittagong seaport for falling in toils of the flag-protection law.
According to the advisory, the operator's ship, namely XP Dhaulagiri, arrived at Chittagong port berth on October 09, and after the unloading and loading of boxes, the vessel was shifted to the outer anchorage on October 11. Since then, it has been in wait for requisite export-waiver certificates.
Also, vessel SOL Promise, a partner ship of the operator, reached Chittagong berth on October 11 and completed discharging operation on October 12. Thereafter, the local authorities allowed the ship to conduct cargo operation for only 24 hours and notified Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) to suspend export-cargo loading beyond 8.00 am on October 12.
"This is impractical for us to finish both load and discharge operation given that vessel must complete 1,228 moves within this time limit of 24 hours at current productivity and efficiency of Chittagong Port," the advisory reads.
As such, the vessel managed to load only 110 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of export cargoes and over 600 TEUs were feared to face shutout situation.
The advisory further mentions that XP Lhotse, another ship of the operator, anchored at Chittagong berth on October 12 and was granted export waiver. The waiver was subsequently revoked by the authority without any "sufficient notice and justifiable reasons".
Also mentioned is that the operator's another vessel, X-press Nilwala, is expected to reach Chittagong port on October 14 but the ship has yet to secure export-waiver certificate.
According to the Bangladesh Flag Vessel (Protection) rules, foreign vessels have to secure waiver certificate from the Mercantile Marine Department (MMD) in Chittagong by submitting online waiver application 15 days before a scheduled trip. A waiver certificate is mandatory for them before loading cargoes.
Contacted Friday over the shipping quagmire, Michael Rodrigues, Senior General Manager, Sea Consortium Bangladesh Ltd, the local agent of X-Press Feeders, told the FE writer that the local authorities seemed not wanting foreign vessels to operate to and from Bangladeshi ports.
He said the authorities were creating the complications to facilitate for a local company to get majority in shipping of the cargoes.
"Some ships have already left Bangladesh and many will go if the noncooperation by the authorities continues," he laments.
Rodrigues said a ship counts financial loss worth US$10,000 to $15,000 if it needs to wait one day without work.
Straits Orient Lines' (SOL) two vessels also faced three voyage disruptions last week, said Muntasir Rubayat, head of operations, GBX Logistics, the local agent of the operator SOL.
He told this correspondent Friday that one of his vessels, namely MV SOL Promise, was given permission to load export containers measuring only 674 TEUs and asked to complete the operation in only 24 hours, which was an impossible task.
Rubayat said a vessel, namely SOL Resilience, was given waiver certificate by MMD recently but asked not to load export cargo until evening on October 5 though the ship took berth on October 4. Another vessel, SOL Promise, also faced operation disruption centring waiver certification.
Syed Md Arif, chairman, Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association (BSAA), told the FE Friday the strict application of the flag-protection law has been causing severe loss for shipping trade.
He said a meeting held on July 31 with the Director-General of Shipping in the chair had decided that if foreign-flag vessels face problem regarding waiver-certificate issuance, the authority will reconsider some decisions in their favour.
"If a vessel comes to Bangladesh having no assurance that it will be able to sail again with containers, how they will run the service," he wondered.
Captain Sabbir Mahmood, Principal Officer at the MMD, told the FE that the problem deepened due to fall in the volume of export cargoes.
"We need to apply the flag-protection rules seriously when such situation arises," he said.
Mr Mahmood said foreign shipping agents are involved in manipulating as regards container distribution. "Unless cargoes of local ships are ensured, we would not let foreign flags to load cargoes."
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
