Half of Ctg port container jetties remain vacant as import falls
Ending 2022 with negative growth in container throughput, the Chattogram port had almost half of its container jetties vacant as the new year rolled in.
Port officials and users blamed a drop in vessel arrivals over the last couple of weeks.
Experiencing vessel congestion most of the time, at least 11 out of the port's 18 jetties can accommodate container vessels.
Of the 18, 12 are at General Cargo Berth, two at Chittagong Container Terminal and four at New Mooring Container Terminal.
The authority usually allows container vessels to berth at 5 to 6 jetties.
Six to seven jetties of the 12 remained vacant over the last three days till Wednesday. The situation improved slightly yesterday when three were vacant.
Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) Secretary Md Omar Faruk said a low number of vessels had been arriving over the last couple of days.
He also hinted at a significant drop in the inflow of import cargo.
Two to four jetties at the two terminals, which house gantry cranes, have remained vacant over the last three days since Monday.
Captain Tanveer Hussain, chief operating officer of Saif Powertec, the berth operator of the terminals, said container handling have sped up for the installation of a number of new gantry cranes, resulting in vessels being able to depart quicker.
That is why jetties are not facing congestion now, he said.
But shipping agents hinted at a reduction in the arrival of vessels, mainly for a noticeable fall in the import volume.
According to data from the shipping agents, a total of 120 container vessels arrived at the port in November while the number came down to 111 in December.
On an average, 1.10 lakh TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of import-laden containers were unloaded at the port every month till October. In June it was 1.29 lakh TEUs.
But in November it stood at 1.05 lakh TEUs and came down to only 89,459 TEUs in December.
The imports started to fall mainly due to government-imposed restrictions on luxury items and opening of letters of credit amidst a dollar crisis.
Mentioning that 20,000 TEUs could be carried by at least 20 vessels, a senior official of a shipping agent said a drastic fall in imports caused the decrease in vessel arrivals.
Besides, many main line operators like CMA CGM, MSC, Cosco, APL and others who operate their own feeder vessels between Chattogram and four transhipment ports have recently reduced their vessel numbers, he said.
This is a result of a decrease in import volume and drastic fall in container freight, he added.
Comments