Congestion of containers at Ctg Port again
Wednesday, 3 October 2007
Jasim Uddin Haroon
The country's premier Chittagong Port witnessed congestion of containers in September raising the turnaround time of vessels, port sources said.
The vessel stay-time at jetties in September averaged 3.48 days against 3.10 days in August this year.
It was 3.26 days in July, 3.60 days in June and 3.48 days in May this year, said officials of the Chittagong Port Authority.
The importers delayed taking delivery of containers, numbering around 400, from port yards. Perishable items like fruits, ginger, garlic, onion and other such commodities were in the containers.
Besides, the shutdown of private inland container depot (ICD) of Portlink at Bhatiary in Chittagong also contributed to such a rise in the ships' stay time at the port.
The Portlink had storage capacity for around 5000 containers.
Sources said equipment failures due to lack of proper maintenance were also responsible for the rise in turnaround time.
The turnaround time at the modern Chittagong Container Terminal (CCT), which handles around 60 per cent of containers, also rose in September.
Managing Director of the Saif Powertec Limited Tarafdar Md Ruhul Amin told the FE that the vessels' stay time at the CCT was more than 48 hours in September.
"It was exactly 49.95 hours meaning more than two days in September," he added.
However, the CCT handled a total of 29,377 containers equivalent to 21275 boxes.
A total of 27 feeder vessels called at the CCT during the period.
The CPA sources said the container handling also dropped in September due to the low volume of import and export trade.
A total of 82000 containers of twenty-foot equivalent Units (TEUs) were handled by the port during the period.
It handled a total of 85,116 containers in August against 78,540 containers in July.
The number of container vessels called at the port also declined in September in comparison with the month of August.
Feeder vessels, which ply mainly on Singapore-Chittagong route called at the port a total of 74 times during the month of September while it was 79 times during the month of August against 73 times in July, said CPA officials.
The turnaround time, which begins from the arrival of vessels at the outer anchorage to sail-out after discharging import cargoes and loading export goods, was 4.84 days in April this year.
It was 8.74 days in March, 8.69 days in February and 11.65 days in January this year.
The turnaround time of container vessels was over 13 days in December last year and more than 22 days during October-November in 2006 when the political chaos disrupted communications and other activities at the port.
The country's premier Chittagong Port witnessed congestion of containers in September raising the turnaround time of vessels, port sources said.
The vessel stay-time at jetties in September averaged 3.48 days against 3.10 days in August this year.
It was 3.26 days in July, 3.60 days in June and 3.48 days in May this year, said officials of the Chittagong Port Authority.
The importers delayed taking delivery of containers, numbering around 400, from port yards. Perishable items like fruits, ginger, garlic, onion and other such commodities were in the containers.
Besides, the shutdown of private inland container depot (ICD) of Portlink at Bhatiary in Chittagong also contributed to such a rise in the ships' stay time at the port.
The Portlink had storage capacity for around 5000 containers.
Sources said equipment failures due to lack of proper maintenance were also responsible for the rise in turnaround time.
The turnaround time at the modern Chittagong Container Terminal (CCT), which handles around 60 per cent of containers, also rose in September.
Managing Director of the Saif Powertec Limited Tarafdar Md Ruhul Amin told the FE that the vessels' stay time at the CCT was more than 48 hours in September.
"It was exactly 49.95 hours meaning more than two days in September," he added.
However, the CCT handled a total of 29,377 containers equivalent to 21275 boxes.
A total of 27 feeder vessels called at the CCT during the period.
The CPA sources said the container handling also dropped in September due to the low volume of import and export trade.
A total of 82000 containers of twenty-foot equivalent Units (TEUs) were handled by the port during the period.
It handled a total of 85,116 containers in August against 78,540 containers in July.
The number of container vessels called at the port also declined in September in comparison with the month of August.
Feeder vessels, which ply mainly on Singapore-Chittagong route called at the port a total of 74 times during the month of September while it was 79 times during the month of August against 73 times in July, said CPA officials.
The turnaround time, which begins from the arrival of vessels at the outer anchorage to sail-out after discharging import cargoes and loading export goods, was 4.84 days in April this year.
It was 8.74 days in March, 8.69 days in February and 11.65 days in January this year.
The turnaround time of container vessels was over 13 days in December last year and more than 22 days during October-November in 2006 when the political chaos disrupted communications and other activities at the port.