The port and shipping subcommittee of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce & Industry made some time bound suggestion for the modernization of the port against the backdrop of congestion of containers and thrust for employment of work force for enhancing productivity. These include procurement of necessary equipment for a global standard port , traffic management , management development of auction containers and empty containers, modern and efficient operational management , enhancement of the efficiency of berth operators, procurement of scanning machines and other relevant equipment’s, keeping the CTMS and ASYCUDA as a flawless world system , and effective coordination of the custom house port &ICD ( Inland Container Depots ). They also emphasized for the construction of Bay terminal at the earliest where Chittagong Ports cargo handling is growing fast at 14 to 15% annually. The meeting took place on 26 August, 2015.
By expressing concern, the meeting said that with this capacity port will not be able to handle cargoes beyond 2018 and they pressed for completing the feasibility study of the Port’s Bay Terminal and construction of the terminal where draft for the anchoring vessels will be 10 to 12 meter.
The sources cited the example that Kolkata Sea Port takes one hour and half for handling 120 TEUs of containers while Chittagong Sea Port takes one day and half for the same numbers of containers. This is because of the lack of sufficient containers handling equipment and efficient management in Chittagong port resulting in container congestion , enhanced turnaround time of ships, damarage charges and other financial losses which are ultimately borne by the country’s common people or consumers.
The meeting hoped that the Bay terminal Project would be kept above all bureaucratic bottlenecks and be implemented by the ministry of Shipping and Chittagong Port authority which is expected to facilitate vessels with 5,000 TEU (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units) of the container of berth. 35 vessels will be able to berth in the port berths and the terminals at the same time.
The meeting was chaired by the Mahfuzul Haque Shah, Director of CCI (Chittagong Chamber of Commerce & Industry) and Convener of CCCI Sub Committee of Port and was addressed by Joint Convenor Benazir Chowdhury Nishan Golden Containers Ltd (GCL), Abdul Manan Sohail , Ataul Karim Chowdhury of Ocean International , Kazi Mahamud Imam Bilu of Customs C&F agent Association . Sarawar Alam Chowdhury of Marks Bangladesh Ltd., Engineer Golam Sarwar of Prantik Shipping, Captain Alauddin Al Azad, Aktar Kamal Chowdhury and Amiyo Shanker of Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association and Md Abu Sayeed of Port Marine Contractors Association.
