CTMS for all ports and terminals in pipeline for container handling

The government is mulling introduction of Container Terminal Management System (CTMS) at all ports and terminals in the country keeping their automation as goal, sources said.
The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has been asked to carry out a study and submit a report in this regard, they added.
"The CTMS has been introduced in the Chittagong port to enable it to handle containers in an automated way. We have asked CPA to examine its potential for other ports and terminals," a senior shipping ministry official told the FE.
He said installation of CTMS at the other ports and terminals would help in online maintenance of their operational activities.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the CTMS system at Chittagong port on December 27, 2011. However, even two years after the inauguration the full-fledged automation of the port is yet to take place because of the implementation delay of the system, officials said.
At a recent meeting at the shipping ministry, the project director of CTMS said different modules of the system were under implementation which would lead to full automation of the port activities soon.
According to the website of Datasoft Systems Bangladesh Ltd, the local representative of ST Electronics Ltd, the contractor of CTMS project, the system will facilitate online maintenance of all operational activities including loading and unloading of containers from ships, shifting of containers in the yard, along with stacking, tracking, delivery and gate control.
The digitisation will help in doubling the container handling capacity of the ports and terminals once the new system is introduced. It will help in easing container handling process and make the stakeholders anxiety-free by tracing out their containers at the yard.
With the implementation of CTMS, the operational activities centring on import and export containers and payment of charges and dues will come under online networking system.
Another senior shipping ministry official said the country's export-import activities have increased significantly in the recent years which will continue to grow in the future. The ports have been handling increased volumes of containers with every passing year.
If the neighbouring countries are given transit and trans-shipment facilities, the ports will have to deal with further load in the coming years, he said.
He added instead of going for manual operation, the ports will have to be digitised for faster handling of loading and unloading of containers to avoid congestion.
"The automation will also raise efficiency of the ports and help them compete with other global ports," he added.