BD, Myanmar coastal vessel service to start in February

Plying of coastal vessels between Bangladesh and Myanmar to carry goods will start in February next year, officials said.
"I am optimistic that plying of coastal vessels between the two neighbours will start in February," said a senior official of the Ministry of Shipping (MoS).   
Officials of the two countries finalised last month the draft of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for plying the vessels, he added.
The SOP will now be placed before the concerned government bodies for approval. Latter, the existing agreement between the two nations will be amended and signed afresh for the vessels to start plying.
A 10-member technical committee, headed by joint secretary of the MoS Md Alauddin, last month visited Myanmar to see the ports of call which the Bangladeshi vessels will touch during plying along the neighbour's coast.
A senior delegation member told the FE that out of six ports of call primarily selected in Myanmar, Bangladesh initially will use Mongdu, Sittwe, Pathein, and Yangon ports for coastal vessel operation.
He said during the visit the team members saw the facilities available at the ports of call. They found that the existing facilities in the ports were good enough to start plying of the coastal vessels.
Sources said a technical committee from Myanmar will visit Bangladesh in January to see the ports of call they have selected.  Myanmar wants to use Chittagong, Teknaf, and Narayanganj ports as ports of call for their vessels.
Officials said only non-conventional small-sized vessels, having capacities of carrying below 6,000 tonnes of goods, will be allowed under the arrangement.
They said 20 to 25 Bangladeshi small sized vessels are ready to start sailing towards Myanmar once the necessary formalities are done. But the frequency of vessels plying will depend on the volume of cargo available for transportation.
Traders said plying of conventional vessels between Bangladesh and Myanmar is not viable considering the volume of load available for cargo. Bilateral trade between the two neighbouring countries is still negligible, they added.
Former president of the Bangladesh-Myanmar Chambers of Commerce and Industry K B Ahmed told the FE earlier that trading through conventional vessels involves higher cost and time.
"Freight charges are negotiable in non-conventional vessels. Sailing time of non-conventional small vessels is also short. Both the countries can carry goods within 12 hours," he said.
Bangladeshi traders faced difficulties in competing with products of Thailand and China due to higher freight charges, Mr Ahmed said.
The bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Myanmar stood at $79 million in fiscal year 2011-12. During the fiscal year Bangladesh exported goods to Myanmar worth $13.45 million and imported goods worth $65.55 million.
Bangladesh mainly exports steel products, light engineering machinery, cement, dry foods, medicines and cosmetics to Myanmar. On the other hand, it imports timber, fish, spices and synthetic footwear from there.