The country’s main seaport, Chittagong Port, has seen a rise in the volume of cargoes and containers handled recently, increasing trade efficiency even as ship arrivals have decreased.
The growth in trade efficiency has been attributed by stakeholders to the fact that larger ships can now dock at the port’s jetty with more containers and cargo on board.
3,001 commercial ships from different nations docked at the port during the nine months of fiscal year 2023–2024, according to data provided by the port. The number represents a 7.12 per cent decrease in ship arrivals over the same period in the previous fiscal year, when 3,231 ships arrived.
However, despite the decline, container handling at the port has increased by 7.64 per cent, with 178,666 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) more containers being handled compared to the previous fiscal year. Similarly, cargo handling has also witnessed an increase of 4.20 per cent.
Despite fewer ship arrivals, port officials and stakeholder institutions stated that improved navigational facilities and the advent of larger vessels have made it possible to move more products.
The port could only handle ships up to 190 metres in length and 9.5 metres in draft prior to 2023. The UK-based organisation HR Wallingford carried out a survey titled Details Hydrologic & Hydraulic Study in the Karnaphuli River to improve the port’s capabilities. Based on the survey results, the port authorities made the strategic decision to permit ships up to 200 metres in length and 10 metres in draft to dock at the jetty starting in January 2023.
As a result, container ships are now able to carry an additional 1,000-plus containers and up to 15,000 tonnes of goods in open cargo ships. Freight charges have also come down as more goods are being transported.
Shipping agencies state that a 200-meter vessel with a 10-meter draft can transport 3800 to 4000 containers at the port, whereas a 190-meter vessel with a 9.5-meter draft can carry 2,500 to 2,600 containers.
According to feeder vessel operators, the current freight rate per TEU container on the Chittagong port to transshipment port route is approximately US $ 200. However, this freight cost was between US $ 300 and US $ 350 by the start of 2023.
Data from Chittagong port indicates that 2,338,361 TEUs of containers were handled during the first nine months of the 2023–2024 fiscal year, with 91,649,659 tonnes of cargo handled. During the fiscal year 2022–2023 from July to March, 2,159,695 TEUs and 87,804,837 tonnes of cargo were handled.
Currently, the total number of jetties, where container ships and open cargo are unloaded, at Chattogram Port is 18. In January 2015, the draft of the port was increased to 9.5 metres and since then, the trade volume has been increasing every year.
