Home ›› 27 Jan 2022 ›› Front
The international business gateway of the country – Chattogram Port – is going to introduce Terminal Operating System this year with an aim to control the movement and storage of cargo in and around the port electronically.
The system aims to automate full-fledged cargo documentation, but the port community including the customs authority is far from being ready to this end. The port has been running Container Terminal Management System (CTMS) since 2011 as its first automation process.
Although the automation system is not fully operational, preparations are now underway to automate the total shipment documentation of containers and bulk cargos.
According to sources in the port, the installation of Terminal Operating System (TOS), the most widely used port management system in the world, will be completed by September-October this year.
Operational activities will be done through TOS and work is underway to convert the whole system including CTMS to TOS, said Mohammad Omar Faruqe, secretary to Chattogram Port Authority.
“It would take time to get used to the system once it is launched. The users are being asked to be accustomed to it,” according to Faruque.
“The operational activities of the port will be easier and transparent, and everyone will benefit from the automated system.”
The port authority took up a project worth Tk 60 core in 2020 to transform the existing operational system into TOS.
Under the project, an agreement was signed with a USA-based company Nevis, a provider of operational technologies and services which had earlier launched CTMS for Chattogram port.
TOS has to provide a set of computerized procedures to manage cargo, machines and people within the facility to enable a seamless link to efficiently manage the facility.
The port officials said although TOS will be installed this year, it is still uncertain whether there would be a complete automation as the previous system CTMS launched in 2011 is not yet fully operational.
CTMS has 28 modules; at least 10 of them including billing and delivery order have not been fully or even partially launched.
The port has recently introduced on test basis Electronic Delivery Orders (EDO), a significant part of CTMS which are issued by shipping agents to take delivery of goods from the port. Seven shipping agents have been allowed to start EDO experimentally.
Under the CTMS, before the ship arrives at the port, the customs authority has to declare Import General Manifest (IGM) for unloading imported cargo and Export General Manifest (EGM) for loading export cargo, but so far the EGM has not been announced, for which, export activities are going on almost manually.
Mohammad Fakhrul Alam, commissioner, Chattogram Customs House, said revenue collection is also being carried out through Customs’ own automation system, ASYCUDA World, but for easy operation in port, the integration process between the systems of port and customs is underway.
“Attempts are being made to find the areas of integration between the two systems, but it is not possible to say at this moment when it will be completed,” he replied to the query on possible timeframe.
In terms of business, Chattogram port is 58th in global ranking that handled 115 million metric tonnes of cargo in 2021.
About a quarter of the cargo has been transported in 32,14,000 TEUs (equivalent to 20 feet) containers.
The existing CTMS licensed in the Navis aims to handle 1 million TEUS containers. The containers ranging from 3.5 million TEUS to 5 million TEUS can be handled for TOS with a licence from the same company.
The container management system CTMS alone has 5,648 official users. When bulk cargo is added to TOS, the amount of users will increase a lot more.
The average growth in CTG port is projected at 10 per cent per annum, which is indicated to increase in the coming years.
Mahmud Imam Bilu, joint secretary, Clearing and Forwarding Agency Association, said in order to get the full benefit of TOS, all users need to be properly trained in the technical aspects, especially the staff of Chattogram port.
“One of the advantages of automation is that the location of containers inside the port can be easily determined, but occasionally this system malfunctions,” Bilu said, adding that though the incident of error is not more than 5-10 per cent, the burden is heavy for those who are caught in it.
Although CTMS was launched in 2011, some of its modules have been launched in the port during the lockdown, according to the leader.
