The Chittagong Port has recently issued a seven-point proposal for all the stakeholders, including a recommendation for exporters to utilise any port in China that is convenient, consequent to exporters and importers complaining about unavailability of containers and vessels at the port for some time now, even as the port authorities have blamed the so-called lack of coordination amongst stakeholders for the problem.
In a press release issued in this direction recently, the port authorities, reportedly, pointed out that majority of Main Line Operators (MLOs) and Feeder Vessel Operators have no common carrier agreements or container direct interchange deals, which according to them, is resulting in smooth transportation of exportable goods getting hampered even as according to reports which cited sources, currently, feeder vessels initially transport export goods to Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port, Singapore Port and Malaysia’s Port Klang, from where mother vessels carry the goods to their destinations including in USA and Europe while adding that berthing delay of a vessel at Chittagong Port’s outer anchorage is around 2-3 days, while ships visiting the ports of Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka have had to face delays of 8-10 days.
To resolve this issue, the BGMEA and other exporters should discuss the matter with their buyers and take steps accordingly, reportedly, added the press note further.
