The ship MV Songa Cheetah left the Chattogram port with 952 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers for Italy on Monday, marking the beginning of the direct shipping connectivity between the two countries.
The ship left around 2:45pm, and most of the containers contained readymade garments, Chittagong Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral M Shahjahan said.
He said the direct shipping route to Italy was the beginning of an important chapter in Bangladesh’s economy.
Considering the importance of garment exports, the port authorities would prioritise all facilities, including berthing and gantry crane allocation, on the route, he also said.
Because of the direct route, it will now take only three weeks instead of 40-45 days for apparel items to reach Europe while costs will go down by 30-40 per cent.
Sources said it would cost around $10,000 to send a container directly from the Chattogram port to Italy. But the cost is $14,000-15,000 if the container has to be carried by mother vessels at transshipment ports in Singapore or Colombo.
Due to high costs and inconveniences of worldwide shipping during the coronavirus pandemic, major apparel buyers in Italy jointly took initiatives to start a direct shipping route between Europe and Bangladesh. As part of that, the Chattogram-Italy route was launched.
Business owners hope exports to European markets will increase through the introduction of direct shipping.
Mahbubul Alam, president of Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was present at the inauguration. He said Bangladesh would be ahead of Vietnam in apparel exports if ships ran on this direct route uninterruptedly.
“Direct shipping will save both time and costs as there will be no transshipment. If buyers take initiatives, more routes will be introduced,” he said.
President of Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association Syed Mohammad Arif and Chattogram Port Authority Secretary Omar Faruk, among others, were present.
