Glut of cars in Ctg port delays unloading from vessels
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Chittagong Office
CHITTAGONG, Oct 6: Two vessels carrying 1,571 cars are at the outer anchorage of Chittagong Port for a week and it is uncertain when they will get berth for unloading their consignments as there is space constraints at the port car shed.
Officials of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) have said they are unable to give berth to the vessels, as there is no space at the port shed. CPA secretary Syed Farhad Uddin said it is impossible to give berth to any car carrier before next Sunday.
Meanwhile, the car importers have said that the port officials were neglecting the booming car business and the CPA in spite of earning a large amount of revenue from the sector did very little to enlarge the space for delivery of cars at the port shed.
Port sources said, MV Baltic Leader carrying 1,052 cars from Japan was waiting for berth since September 29 while MV Cold Star with 519 cars from the same country reached the outer anchorage last Saturday.
Mr Farhad told the FE Monday that the port chairman Commodore RU Ahmed visited the car shed in the morning to see the accommodation facilities and found the entire shed occupied.
Against the accommodation capacity of 4,000 cars there are 4,051 cars in the shed as of Monday. On an average 100 cars are being delivered everyday. 120 cars were delivered from the shed Sunday.
The CPA chairman told the FE Monday, "We gave the vehicle importers some options. We asked them to speed up car delivery from the shed, intimate CPA eight to 10 days ahead of the arrival of their consignments or import vehicles at intervals or unload the vehicles at Mongla Port. But they did not pay heed to any of our proposals."
When contacted Md Shahidullah, a leading car importer and president of Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) said: "The car business is a booming business throughout the world now-a-days and Chittagong Port is earning vast amount of revenue from the sector. So it is their duty to arrange accommodations for the imported cars. They are enlarging the container terminals in the port, but did little for the car sheds in the last decade, while the import of cars has increased manifold?"
"Well, some importers can unload their consignments at Mongla Port. But who will guarantee security for the vehicles delivered at Mongla Port?" he asked.
"You need to develop the port facilities and you need plans for proper development," he added.
CHITTAGONG, Oct 6: Two vessels carrying 1,571 cars are at the outer anchorage of Chittagong Port for a week and it is uncertain when they will get berth for unloading their consignments as there is space constraints at the port car shed.
Officials of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) have said they are unable to give berth to the vessels, as there is no space at the port shed. CPA secretary Syed Farhad Uddin said it is impossible to give berth to any car carrier before next Sunday.
Meanwhile, the car importers have said that the port officials were neglecting the booming car business and the CPA in spite of earning a large amount of revenue from the sector did very little to enlarge the space for delivery of cars at the port shed.
Port sources said, MV Baltic Leader carrying 1,052 cars from Japan was waiting for berth since September 29 while MV Cold Star with 519 cars from the same country reached the outer anchorage last Saturday.
Mr Farhad told the FE Monday that the port chairman Commodore RU Ahmed visited the car shed in the morning to see the accommodation facilities and found the entire shed occupied.
Against the accommodation capacity of 4,000 cars there are 4,051 cars in the shed as of Monday. On an average 100 cars are being delivered everyday. 120 cars were delivered from the shed Sunday.
The CPA chairman told the FE Monday, "We gave the vehicle importers some options. We asked them to speed up car delivery from the shed, intimate CPA eight to 10 days ahead of the arrival of their consignments or import vehicles at intervals or unload the vehicles at Mongla Port. But they did not pay heed to any of our proposals."
When contacted Md Shahidullah, a leading car importer and president of Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) said: "The car business is a booming business throughout the world now-a-days and Chittagong Port is earning vast amount of revenue from the sector. So it is their duty to arrange accommodations for the imported cars. They are enlarging the container terminals in the port, but did little for the car sheds in the last decade, while the import of cars has increased manifold?"
"Well, some importers can unload their consignments at Mongla Port. But who will guarantee security for the vehicles delivered at Mongla Port?" he asked.
"You need to develop the port facilities and you need plans for proper development," he added.