Arrival and departure of the number of ocean-going commercial ships at Chattogram Port is coming down remarkably as the world trade is facing recession due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Some of the jetties go almost empty someday while once they used to be busy with loading and unloading goods.
Chattogram Port is the main economic center of the country. 92 percent of the country's total import-export trade and 98 percent of cargo containers are brought and taken through Chattogram port.
Sources said Chittagong port’s container handling decreased by 248 thousand 14 TEU in FY 2022-23 as compared to FY 2021-22, but cargo handling increased.
Goods are discharged from ships arriving at Chattogram port in two ways. All container ships are discharged at the jetty. Some of the bulk carrier vessels discharge at the jetty and at the outer anchorage to lighter vessels. Oil tankers discharge oil at the Port's Dolphin Oil Jetty.
Chattogram port has dropped by 3 steps in the list of the world's top port in container transport compared to the previous year. The international press in the 2023 edition of Lloyd's List,Chattogram Port has fallen to the 67th position in the list of top 100 ports.
Chattogram Port Authority has not been able to allocate ships to two to three jetties out of the 19 jetties of the port. The port has three terminals, they are General Cargo Berth (GCB), Chattogram Container Terminal (CCT) and New mooring Container Terminal (NCT). These terminals have a total of 20 jetties. Of the 19 active jetties, 6 are for bulk carrier ships, the other 13 for container ships.
A ship used to wait for 3-5 days to get a berth at the jetty for discharge of goods. Currently, the port authorities are unable to provide on-arrival jetties due to the shortage of ships.
The General Cargo Berth (GCB) jetty remains empty despite regular berthing of container ships at NCT and CCT jetties. According to Chattogram port data, the number of ships arriving in the next six months has decreased by 149 compared to the first six months of the fiscal year 2022-23. In the six months from July to December 2022, 2,201 ships arrived at the port.
The average number of ship arrivals per month is 354.42. In the six months from January to June 2023, 2,052 ships arrived. An average of 342 ships arrive per month.
Chattogram Port Authority Secretary Md. Omar Faruq said, due to the effect of Russia-Ukraine war, container handling has decreased in many ports of the world. However, container handling has decreased, but cargo handling has increased. On the other hand, due to the dollar crisis, traders are facing difficulties in opening LCs. In such a situation, the government imposed restrictions on the import of luxury goods. It reduces import and export.
Importers have to pay 12-20 thousand dollars rent depending on the size of the ship. A ship would have to pay an extra $60,000 if it sat more than three days. Consumers had to bear this additional rent. Now importers don't have to pay additional ship charges for on-arrival berthing.
Port officials says there was a slight downward trend due to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war and a slowdown in imports due to the dollar crisis. The dollar crisis has affected the import of luxury goods in container shipping.