Undelivered cargo containers choke Chittagong Port yards

Chittagong: Chittagong Port faces a severe space crisis with growing number of containers blocking its yards for the past few weeks, port officials said.


Besides, slow delivery of imported cargoes by a section of traders has deepened the crisis further, they said.


Over 15,000 containers remained stockpiled at the port’s yards and sheds against the capacity to accommodate only 12,500 containers.


‘As a result, we are facing a tough situation in handling container cargo while the arrival of container ships also marked an increase recently,’ the Chittagong Port Director (Traffic), Ahsanul Kabir, said.


Now on an average 50 container vessels call at Chittagong Port in recent months, up from an average of 30 container ships recorded three months ago, he added.


Increased trading activities had led to the growth of container cargoes at the country’s prime seaport, he pointed out.


For safety and security most of the importers and exporters now prefer shipment of cargoes through containers, the port official said.


‘Some traders want to use the port yards and sheds as warehouses of their cargoes and refrain from taking quick delivery. This is really a very bad practice,’ he said.


The port authority has started issuing notices to those traders asking them to expedite delivery of containers. ‘Otherwise, we are bound to impose penalty,’ Ahsanul Kabir said.


He hoped that handling facilities for container cargoes would increase after commissioning of newly constructed New Mooring container terminal in a couple of months.