Vessels off-limits to Ctg port at night, shippers count loss

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Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
Shipping companies are losing about $0.1 million every day as ships are not allowed to enter or leave the Chittagong port at night.
It takes two to three days for a ship to anchor at the port, unload and load products, but if the night navigation facility is available the time could be lowered to one to two days.
The operational expense of a ship a day is about $15,000, that virtually turns into a loss in the context of Chittagong port. Presently, seven to eight ships arrive and leave the port every day.
"The port cannot allow night navigation facility as some buoy lights at the channel of Karnaphuli river are not functioning," Chittagong Port Authority chairman Riaz Uddin Ahmed told the FE on Thursday.
Chittagong Port, the country's largest seaport, is located on the bank of the Karnaphuli river.
The port is a natural harbour and movement of the ships depends on tide, he said.
He admitted that as the ships cannot leave at night, they occupy the berths at the port sitting idle.
"We are looking into the matter and trying to solve the problem soon," he added.
Port sources said lack of the night navigation facility not only hampers the port operation, but also affects international trade.
President of Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association Ahsanul Haq Chowdhury said the early the ships leave the port, the early they reach the destinations with export consignments.
A feeder vessel must unload export consignments at the Singapore port eight hours before they are again loaded in the mother vessel bound for Europe or North America, he said.
"If loading of a ship is completed by the evening, it has to wait 12 to 16 hours for the next tide and that means it will reach the Singapore Port late," he explained.
In most of the cases, export consignments bound for the US or Europe are sent to Singapore port, where the big mother vessels can berth.
Mr Chowdhury suggested that the government should take initiatives immediately to dredge the channel of the Karnaphuli river, so that ships can move to and from the port easily.
Bangladesh is a poor country and, if necessary, the government should assign coast guards, so that the ships can enter or leave the port at night, said a senior official of a multinational shipping line.
"It is a huge loss not only for the shipping companies, but also for the economy," he said.
In the present situation, the efficiency of the port is decreasing and connectivity with mother vessels at the Singapore port is also becoming difficult, he said.
The RMG exporters usually ship their products at the last minute, and if the consignments miss the mother vessel at the Singapore port, it will put heavy pressure on the traders, he explained.
"The depth of the Karnaphuli channel must be increased and the port authority must install latest equipment for night-time navigation," he added.
The Chittagong port is the country's major port handling about 92 per cent of its total export-import trade.