Chattogram port is seeing a backlog in import container delivery as many businesses are yet to collect their cargo despite five days having passed since the Eid-ul-Fitr holiday.

Although the country's premier seaport remained fully operational during the holiday, the expected benefits could not be seen in container delivery activities, officials said.

This resulted in the accumulation of more than 9,000 TEUs of containers within the span of seven days till yesterday.

Until the morning of March 30, the day before Eid-ul-Fitr, there were 31,707 TEUs of all types of containers inside the port.

As of yesterday, the number climbed to 40,948 TEUs.

Port officials blamed importers for not taking proper delivery, thereby causing the accumulation.

According to berth operators, delivery of import containers started dropping two to three days before Eid, which was celebrated on March 31.

The delivery rate came down to only 1,753 TEUs on March 29 and 809 TEUs on March 30 against the average daily delivery of 4,500 TEUs to 5,000 TEUs.

Not a single container was delivered on Eid day.

On the following four days till yesterday morning, an average of only 933 TEUs was delivered from the port.

However, port users and berth operators opined that the situation this year is not as bad as it was in previous years, mainly due to some measures taken by the authority far ahead of Eid.

In mid-February, the authorities warned of imposing four times higher storage rent for longer stay of containers, said Nazmul Hoque, executive director of Saif Powertec, the berth operator of the port's New Mooring Container Terminal.

Such measures yielded significant results, which created enough vacant space in most port yards before the holiday started.

"If the yards did not have that much space, the situation could have turned out worse," he added.

However, Hoque admitted there has been an accumulation of containers in the last few days.

As such, the port yards started to face congestion since Saturday, he said.

Chittagong Port Authority Secretary Md Omar Faruk said though delivery remained low, the arrival of ships and unloading of imports went on at normal pace over the holiday, except for an eight-hour halt on Eid day.

The importers did not show up since factories remained shut due to the festival and holidays, he added.

Faruk hoped that as overall activities gained momentum, the situation would improve quickly.