Chtg Port back to chaos

Chittagong: The operational activities of the Chittagong port have come under scrutiny again. The seaport has once again plunged into container congestion as the rate of taking delivery of the containers by the importers has fallen sharply over the past few days.

The port authorities are also facing space crises at different port yards. They hinted that container congestion might turn into a serious problem ahead of the holy Eid-ul Azha.

The outer anchorage of the port is also clogged with logjam of vessels, exactly 11 in number until to date, waiting to be berthed.

Earlier, the shipping agents launched an agitation movement against the imposition of extra charges for newly installed gantry crane services. The situation created a standoff for some days.

The port also witnessed turmoil over the operation of the gantry cranes-whether the private sector operators or the Chittagong Port Authorities' (CPA) own workers should operate. According to the agreement with the CPA, workers of a private company were scheduled to operate the cranes.

However, inefficiency of Chittagong Port is creating an additional burden of $1.1 billion on Bangladesh economy a year, which is 2.0 per cent of the GDP, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). In a study on Dhaka-Chittagong Economic Corridor Development (DCEC), a government and ADB-funded project, the Bank said the country will see a hefty 30 per cent increase in export by simply making the port more efficient.

It also said lack of port infrastructure and services are the key impediments to growth of export and investment as the port continues to be one of the slowest, most inefficient and costly in Asia. The Chittagong Port can be turned into the economic hub of Bangladesh, eastern India, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan by upgrading it from the sub-regional cooperation perspective. As such, the facilities there must be improved to help accelerate country's export-import trade but it is necessary at the same time to improve rail, road and inland water transportation linked with the port.

Due to the capacity shortage and inefficient operation, the port is occasionally unable to deliver export cargoes timely to foreign destinations. 'Purchase order to delivery' cycle time is one month longer in the port than those of major competing countries. This has become a problem for foreign investment and a even more critical one in the post-MFA (multi-fibre arrangement) era.
Country's rail network is poorly utilised by any international standard while Dhaka-Chittagong main road cannot handle container lorries due to capacity constraints. Initiative for sub-regional cooperation by the DCEC is expected to provide a boost to trade and transit traffic from the neighbouring countries.
Besides, it will need a multi-lane access road as well as upgrading of the existing roads between Dhaka and Chittagong, high-speed direct railway, and high-speed ferry service connecting Chittagong with other river ports.

It is expected that the ongoing automation and infrastructural development at Chittagong Port would cut the vessel turnaround time to less than 24 hours from the existing 3-4 days.

There is the likelihood of a four-fold traffic growth at the Chittagong Port by 2020. As such, there is a need for massive infrastructure development there. Such development would need to include deepwater facilities and enhanced capacity to handle growing containerised traffic. Complete automation of the port services including the New Mooring terminal in the premier seaport are also essential.

As a principal transport corridor of Bangladesh, the study on DCEC also concentrate on potential sub-regional linkages to northern states of India and via Jamuna Bridge to West Bengal as well as to Bhutan and Nepal. Bangladesh has high potential, particularly following the development of DCEC, to become a transport/transshipment centre for the entire SASEC (South Asia Sub-regional Economic Co-oper