Bangladesh’s principal sea port, Chittagong Port, had to reportedly grapple with container congestion following a flash transport strike thereby severely hampering delivery and transfer of containers to inland container depots (ICDs).
“The transport crisis has created the congestion, which is now hampering handling of containers at the port yards,” reportedly maintained the Chairman of the Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association, Ahsanul Hoque Chowdhury, while speaking to the media.
Due to the congestion, the number of import-laden containers reportedly soared to 38,159 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) till Wednesday, exceeding the port capacity of 37,620 TEUs.
The transport strike has been called in connection with the recent students’ protest demanding safe roads.
It may be mentioned here that accounting for 90 per cent of the Bangladesh’s import and export, any disruption of day-to-day activities at the Chittagong Port severely impacts the export oriented RMG sector of the country.
While speaking to media, the first Vice President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Moinuddin Ahmed Mintu, reportedly expressed fears of missing shipment deadlines due to the same, adding the cargos would miss their scheduled mother vessels at Singapore or Colombo ports.
In many such cases, buyers reportedly demand discounted rates or the exporters have to resort to costlier air shipments to meet delivery deadlines.