Container pileup at prime seaport prolongs

Container congestions at Chittagong seaport prolonged following slow delivery of boxes Friday-Saturday against a rush after the unblocking of blockades during countrywide quota protests, sources said.
However, the trade-clearance operations at the prime port of Bangladesh improved a little Sunday, but not enough to cope with the backlog.
As such, as of Monday morning, the number of boxes at the port yard stood at 38,602 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in a decrease from 41,183 TEUs a day back, port data showed.
Congestions built up at the port as delivery remained suspended for nearly a week since July 19th amid student protests, highway blockades, imposition of curfew, and internet shutdown.
Port-sector officials say every day some 3,000 import containers are being unloaded from the ships while the number of delivered containers is almost as many.
They say unless the delivery of containers can be expedited further, the piled-up containers at the port yard would not decrease too soon.
Also, they say, the space at the port yards needs to be freed as soon as possible to facilitate day-to-day affairs at the port yard. Nearly 80 per cent of yard space still remains occupied.
Meantime, on Monday morning, 10 container vessels were unloading and loading containers at the main jetties of the port while 12 more were in wait at the outer- anchorage.
On the day, a total of 120 vessels were in the port area in the Bay of Bengal. Data showed container-vessel waiting time extending up to four days.
To cope up with the situation major shipping liners are employing additional time and human resources to help clear the cargo backlog.
France-based shipping and logistic company CMA CGM in a customer advisory Monday said the operator kept open its office counters in Chittagong over the weekend, and as a result, "we were able to serve a large number of customers on their needs and facilitate more import deliveries to support easing the congestion in the terminal".
It said as per government order, the operator would conduct usual operations between 9.00am and 3.00pm on 28th-30th July. As a special gesture, it will operate counters in Dhaka and Chittagong from 9.30am till 4.00pm to support the trade.
"We request you to make use of this opportunity to clear your consignments at the earliest to ensure the over-operations reach the desired optimum levels," reads the shipping advisory.
The Maerskline, a Danish international container-shipping company, which carries around 30 per cent of Bangladesh's seaborne trade, in an advisory Friday said Maersk congestions at the ports are impacting the movement of containers and, thereby, the overall productivity.
The current vessel-wait time is estimated four to five days, it said. "…we are continuously striving to ensure that your cargo can be moved as seamlessly as possible."

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