Ports to cut 40pc tariff for coastal ships

Seaports in Bangladesh will cut international tariff by 40 per cent to facilitate transport of goods at low cost under the Indo-Bangladesh coastal shipping agreement, officials said.
The Chittagong port will cut tariff on five items while the Mongla port on six items and the Paira port will also follow the same, they added.
However, other ports of call for coastal vessels -- Ashuganj, Narayanganj and Khulna river ports and Pangaon Inland Container Terminal -- would not cut tariff as they only handle domestic vessels and goods.
A seven-member tariff fixation committee, headed by additional secretary of the ministry of shipping (MoS) Abdul Quddus Khan, recently submitted a report in this regard to the secretary in line with the standard operating procedure (SoP) of the coastal shipping agreement.
A senior MoS official told the FE that the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has agreed to reduce tariff by 40 per cent on port dues charge, pilotage charge, tug, berthing and un-berthing and mooring occupancy charges.
He said the Mongla Port Authority (MPA) will reduce tariff on six types of services like port dues charge, pilotage charge, tug hire charge, berthing charge, holiday charge and night charge.
The official said the Paira Port Authority is yet to set its tariff since the port has not started functioning. The authority has decided that it will incorporate a paragraph on tariff rate for coastal ships providing 40 per cent waiver while preparing the tariff schedule of the port.
Another MoS official said the coastal ships will also use Ashuganj, Narayanganj, Khulna river ports, and Pangaon Inland Container Terminal. Since these river ports and the terminal only handle domestic vessels and no international vessels go there, they don't need to reduce existing tariff for the vessels which will ply through Indo-Bangla coasts.
Bangladesh and India signed the coastal shipping agreement in November last year aiming at reducing transport cost of goods by two-thirds.
In March this year, vessels formally started plying through both coasts. The vessels had been plying through ports of Singapore or Sri Lanka before the agreement came into force. The travelling time has come down by three-fourths for vessels plying under the agreement.
Another MoS official said the coastal vessels will also use Paradip in Orissa, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Haldia in Paschimbanga and Kakinada port near Chennai as ports of call.
The Indian authority will fix the tariff rate for the vessels in those ports and inform the Bangladesh side soon, said the official.
The coastal shipping service is considered low-cost and easiest way to carry goods between the two countries.
Director General of department of shipping (DoS) M Zakiur Rahman Bhuiyan earlier told the FE that until now, maximum goods of Indo-Bangladesh trade are being transported through land ports. Steps have to be taken to divert those to river route since service is cheaper than carrying goods by road.
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