News / 'Don't cut off your head to cure a headache': Chittagong shippers fight vessel ban

Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has got into a fight with local shippers over plans to prohibit 15 vessels from making calls at its terminal, to reduce congestion and mounting wait times.

The Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association (BSAA) had been tasked with determining which 15 ships, equivalent to 13% of the 118 calling at the gateway, would be excluded – but has refused to comply.

BSAA chair Syed Mohammad Arif told The Loadstar: “The port authority should improve operational efficiency and raise the level of equipment.

“This would ensure vessels do not stay at berth for a long time, with no queue at the outer anchorage. We should not cut off our head because we have a headache; we should take measures to remedy the situation.”

Pointing out that other ports suffered from congestion and lengthy wait times, Mr Arif wondered “are they also lowering the number of vessels?”.

He suggested the port work towards ensuring it could handle high levels of capacity and larger vessels within its terminals through the sufficient supply of trailers, working to resolve traffic around the port, and addressing equipment, supply and storage issues.

But the CPA determined that the increase in ship calls, from 96 at the start of the year to 118, and the associated congestion, proved the port could not handle this volume of calls.

At 96 calls, average wait times at anchorage were one to two days, with seven or eight vessels waiting at any one time; CPA director of traffic Enamul Karim said it was the decision to permit calls on an ad-hoc basis that had triggered the problems.

And Enamul Huq, director of the Bangladesh Container Shipping Association, concurred and told The Loadstar that if ships were unable to bring cargo to Chittagong, Bangladesh trade would suffer.

The country is in talks with the US in a bid to prevent threatened tariffs of 35%. According to Reuters, Bangladesh has tried to sweeten the deal with a pledge to buy 220,000 tonnes of wheat from the US at $302.75 per tonne. US wheat prices are currently between $221 and $240 per tonne.