Saif Power to get Tk 200 for each container at CCT

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CHITTAGONG, Apr 23: Singapore-based Chittagong Feeder Trade Committee has finally agreed to pay Tk 200 for handling of each 20-feet container ending a long-standing bargain over on-board handling charges at the Chittagong Container Terminal (CCT).
In a two-day tripartite meeting in Singapore the CFTC signed a deal in this regard with Chittagong Port Authority and Saif PowerTec, the berth operator at the CCT on April 14 and 15 last. Representatives of Singapore-based five main line operators (MLOs), Saif PowerTec (STP) and CPA signed the agreement, a member of the CPA board said.
As per the deal the MLOs also agreed to pay $1.3 million (about Tk 91 million) to the Saif PowerTec. SPT claimed Tk 120 million from Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association (BSAA), which it said was lying outstanding on account of on-board handling of containers at the CCT of Chittagong Port.
The SPT and BSAA embroiled in argument over the recent months when the STP claimed Tk 350 for handling each container at the CCT. STP stated that they were charging the on-board handling fee as per agreement with the CPA.
But the BSAA said the SPT's claim of Tk 350 for handling a container was unacceptable because they cannot claim twice for handling a container. The shipping agents in a meeting on March 21, 2010 decided not to pay the charges and divert their geared vessels from the CCT to the general cargo berths to avoid payment of 'extra charges'.
They said that there was no agreement between the present terminal handling contractor and the BSAA. There was no approval from the ship owners and main line operators either regarding payment of such charges. They were even mulling to file a writ petition in the High Court in this regard.
But the CPA sided with the SPT on the issue. In a letter to the BSAA the director (traffic) of the CPA said on March 15 that the shipping agents would pay Tk 350 to the SPT for handling container on board the vessel at the CCT from December 15, 2009 as per agreement signed between the SPT and the CPA.
As stakeholders the main line operators were concerned at such an impasse and called a meeting of the concerned parties at the CFTC's office in Singapore where the deal was struck.
When asked about the deal BSAA chairman Ahsanul Huq Chowdhury told the FE that they came to know that the MLOs agreed to pay Tk 200 as handling charge for each container but they were yet to receive any confirmation letter from Singapore.