Rising imports trigger lighter vessel crisis

The Chittagong port is facing a shortage of lighter ships as the number of inbound vessels has been rising.

Importers and traders fear losses due to the crisis of ships for transporting goods on domestic routes.

According to Water Transport Cell (WTC), a lighterage ship management authority at the port, importers demanded 80 ships on Wednesday but 74 were provided.

“Most of the ships are on their way to different destinations of the country with goods. Almost all the ships are engaged at the moment. That’s

why we have to do some rationing to supply the ships according to the demand,” ‍said WTC Joint Secretary Ataul Kabir Ranju.

The import of cement clinker, coal, fertiliser and various construction materials has increased. “There is crisis in the transportation of goods on the internal routes this time of the year as the port remains busy,” he added.

Chittagong port sources said 43 mother vessels were ready to unload goods in the outer anchorage on Wednesday. Of them, 20 are loaded with clinkers, four with food grains, two with fertilisers, two with sugar, 13 with general cargo and two oil tankers.

Port Secretary Omar Faruque said, “The import volume and cargo movement have increased. Ship crisis in such a situation is normal.”

Eighty per cent of the imported bulk cargo through the port is unloaded at the outer anchorage by small ships and sent to various destinations via waterway.

There are about 2,200 lighterage ships in the country carrying these goods on the internal water routes. Of these, about 1,500 ships are under the supervision of WTC.

WTC allocates ships for unloading goods at the outer anchorage every day according to the demand of importers.

Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association Chairman ‍Sayed Mohammad Arif said if the goods are not unloaded from the mother vessels on time, the importers and those involved, would have to pay extra shipping charges.

Importers have to pay $35,000 per day for a vessel staying at the port, he said. “Lighter ship charter process should be made easier so that importers can hire ships directly from the owners.”

Shipowners and importers are at loggerheads over the WTC’s control over the lease of lighterage ships used for unloading goods at the port. Different industrial groups use their ships for unloading their goods.

WTC blamed the current ship crisis on industry owners and importers who do not release them on time.

As a result, a ship that was supposed to return to the port within a week of taking the goods is not arriving on time, said WTC’s Ranju.

But industry owners and port officials said imports have multiplied since the pandemic lockdown. As a result, the demand for ships has also increased.

BSM Group Chairman Abul Bashar Chowdhury said that the ship crisis is hampering the unloading of goods, delaying the arrival of imported products in the market as well as raw materials to factories.

The reopening after the lockdown has increased imports and put extra pressure on everything, he said.