BM depot damage puts additional pressure on other ICDs

The damage caused to BM Container Depot by the deadly inferno has put extra pressure on the 18 other inland container depots (ICDs) handling export and import goods in Chattogram.

Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA) Secretary Ruhul Amin Sikder Biplob said the products that used to be processed at BM depot were being sent to other ICDs, resulting in the extra load for them.

All the goods exported through the Chattogram port undergo pre-shipment procedures at the ICDs. Some imported products are also processed there.

The 18 ICDs now have 10,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers of export goods. The 19 ICDs, including BM depot, had the capacity to handle about 80,000 TEU containers, but this will now reduce because of the damage caused by the fire.

Bilopb said BM depot’s repairs would start as soon as the fire was fully extinguished ‍and the agencies concerned declared it safe. It might take at least six months for BM depot to be fully operational again, said BICDA officials.

BICDA and the fire service said the blaze had completely ruined BM depot’s main warehouse, adding many valuable container lifting equipment and internal structures were destroyed and needed to be fully rebuilt.

The fire at the depot in Chattogram’s Bhatiari, which killed 44 people and injured around 300, was doused after around 87 hours on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference outside the depot on Wednesday afternoon, Lt Col Ariful Islam Himel, commander of the 18th brigade of the 24th infantry division of the army, said there was no fire inside the depot anymore.

He said some containers were still smouldering but it was not too risky.

“The main cause of the fire was that there were some containers loaded with chemicals. We have tried to identify all chemical containers and separated them,” he said.

The army official further said about 30 containers contained chemicals but the exact number could not be confirmed.

“There were some intact containers next to the ones that caught fire. We moved the intact containers to a safe place,” Himel added.

Although several agencies, including the fire brigade, have not yet finished investigating the cause of the fire and the damage to the depot, BICDA estimated the initial damage at around Tk 1,400 crore, with garments accounting for the highest damage at around Tk 700 crore.

Case filed

A case has been filed with Sitakunda Police Station in connection with the fire. Sub-Inspector Ashraf Siddique filed the case on Tuesday night against eight people.

Seven of the accused are BM depot’s General Manager Nazmul Akhter Khan, Deputy General Manager (operations) Nurul Akhter Khan, Manager (administration) Khaledur Rahman, Assistant Administrative Officer Abbas Ullah, Senior Executive (administration) Nasir Uddin, Assistant Manager Abdul Shezar Islam, and Assistant Depot In-charge Nazrul Islam.

Special space allocated inside port

In the wake of the BM depot fire, Chittagong Port Authority has allocated a special space inside the port for temporarily storing the containers of ICDs before shipment.

At least 600 TEU containers can be stored there.

The Chattogram customs house has also issued a notice stating that goods brought in via the port must be unloaded within 30 days and those imported through the airport within 21 days or within the limits prescribed by the customs in both cases. Otherwise, the goods will be auctioned as soon as possible.

Nur Uddin Milon, deputy commissioner of the customs house, said the notice was issued for all imported products but the unloading of chemicals would be emphasised now.

“Because of the accident, we have decided not to relax the rule of the timely release of chemical products,” he said.

The Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry has expressed concern over the fire and demanded a proper investigation.