Undercover barter trade at sea finds a bonanza as some unscrupulous foreign-ship crew in cahoots with private watchmen exchange goods and report piracies to information centre, according to finding by the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA).
Officials have said the CPA found such 'barter trade' at port's outer anchorage and jetties and the sending of "false" piracy reports to the regional watchdog, thus damaging image of the prime seaport.
In 2022 four incidents of piracy within Bangladesh waters were reported to the information- sharing centre (ISC) under Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP).
However, the east-zone commander of Bangladesh Coastguard later investigated the reported incidents and found the piracy claims to be false. Rather, the investigators found the crew of foreign ships involved in bartering goods with local people and later reporting them as piracies.
Thereafter, the investigation report was shared with the ReCAAP's ISC and the regional inter-governmental body crosschecked its veracity.
The CPA recently held a meeting to combat theft and dacoities at the outer anchorage of the port and discussed the dishonest act by some foreign ships' crewmen and watchmen, which blemishes image of the country's prime port.
The meeting was told that, after arriving at the port's outer anchorage and private jetties, some unscrupulous crew of foreign ships buy local products from local traders in exchange for goods stored in the ship, like mooring ropes, foreign liquors, foodstuffs and so.
Afterwards, these crewmen report to the port authority and law-enforcement agencies that incidents of theft and piracy had taken place in the ships.
At the meeting, Captain Jamal Chowdhury of Chattogram Naval Area (COMCHIT) said mooring ropes of ships were being sold in local markets in Chattogram. Smuggled goods can be easily identified if the import documents of them are checked.
He suggested that if the smuggled goods were seized from the markets, the practice of barter trade would decline.
"Unless the attempts to damage image of Chittagong port, in the name of barter trade, are prevented, the efficiency index of the port will face negative impacts in the future," he was quoted as saying about the tricky maritime trading underworld.
Captain Faridul Alam, Deputy Conservator at Chittagong Port Authority, notes that the seaport had been listed as "free of piracy" since 2019 and was commended globally.
"A piracy-free port is considered a safe port according to Nairobi Convention and owners feel encouraged to send their ships there at low rent and low insurance costs," he says.
Captain Mostasim Billah, Assistant Harbour Master of CPA, has said in the port jetties watchmen are being deployed from port's watchman-booking cell and so no incidents of theft or dacoity takes place.
However, he says, theft occurs in the private jetties and outer anchorage with the support of private watchmen who are appointed by shipping agents.
Commodore M Fazlar Rahman, Member (Harbour and Marine) of the CPA, who presided the meeting, said the Chittagong port has the prospect to be a porting hub for ASEAN, SAARC, BIMSTEC and South Asia in future.
Bangladesh's 92-percent seaborne trade and 98-percent containerized trade is done through the port of Chittagong.
"A port's global acceptability depends on its level of safety and security," he said.
The meeting decided that ship crew will have to inform the port control room and Bangladesh Coast Guard personnel immediately after any incident takes place. The ship master and shipping agents will remain responsible for delayed reporting.
Watchmen can be appointed in port area only from the pool of the watchmen cell. The port authority would not take responsibility of privately appointed watchmen and ship masters -- shipping agents will be responsible for incidents that take place in the presence of such watchmen.
Also, the meeting decided that just after being reported about the incidents, the coastguard personnel will enter the ships and investigate the event and put those involved in such incident behind bars.
The meeting further decided that any ship reporting piracy incident cannot leave the port area until a thorough investigation is completed and proved whether the claim of piracy was true or false.
In 2022 some 80 incidents of piracy were reported in Asian waters, slightly up from 77 in 2021.
This year, until August 9, some 76 incidents had been reported, most of which took place in Straits of Malacca and Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and India.
Also, until August 9 this year, in Bangladesh one incident was reported, which took place in Dolphin Jetty No 3 near Chittagong port.
The ship master of MT Success reported that while at berth six perpetrators armed with long knives forcibly boarded the ship.
After receiving the incident report, Bangladesh Coast Guard personnel immediately boarded the tanker to conduct investigation. During the investigation, BCG discovered that the ship's store lock was broken, and was informed by the master and crew that 10 cans of paint were stolen.
The BCG carried out follow-up investigation near the land and water areas of the port, and recovered all the stolen items, according to ReCAAP ISC.
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