At least seven of the 18 jetties remained vacant in the Chittagong Seaport at the start of the new year due to a decline in container throughput.
Port officials said on Monday vessels can currently enter the jetty without waiting at the outer anchorage. Earlier, vessels had to wait for several days.
They say it could cause revenue losses for the port authorities and the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
The decline is due to a decrease in import cargo flow. Although port users are reaping some short-term benefits because vessel congestion used to be a major impediment to container unloading.
As the jetties have remained nearly empty, the average waiting time and cost of transportation of export goods have decreased.
However, shipping agents are worried that this can eventually lead to a crisis in the long run. Port users are also worried about an impending problem. Port officials said that a decrease in vessel arrivals over the last few days was mostly caused by the use of new machinery.
Chattogram Port Director (Transport) Enamul Karim said, the main reason for the decreased waiting time is the port’s increased efficiency.
“Container handling has sped up. So, we have to wait at least a month to determine if vessel unloading has decreased.” he said.
Captain Tanveer Hossain, Chief Operating Officer of Saif Powertec, the terminal operator of Chittagong Seaport, told UNB that container handling has sped up due to the addition of modern machinery.
“Even a year ago, vessels had to wait for days. Now, vessels can depart faster.”
He did, however, also point out a decline in vessel arrivals as a result of the ongoing world economic crisis.
Syed Mohammad Arif, Chairman of Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association, told UNB that port users’ hassle has lessened due to the addition of modern machinery.
“However, if the current situation continues, there is a high risk of future decline.” he concluded.
The port faced negative growth in container throughput in 2022 due to the decline in container handling. Some 31.42 lakh TEUs of containers were unloaded at the port last year, which was over 72,000 TEUs less in 2021. A dramatic fall in imports due to the global economic crisis caused the decrease.
