Page 28 - IBT Sept 2021 (1)

Cover Focus

By Marjiya Baktyer Ahmed September 2021
digitize the country, we had a game changing Chittagong Port Trade Facilitation Project and during that time Chittagong Port and wants to do business then where 9 months in a year they remain covered in ice.
asset readily available at our disposal. There I was Member (Harbour and Member) in Chittagong Port. he has to comply with the above mentioned are the market leaders in the maritime sector for
were a few setbacks in getting accustomed but Today we can exactly pinpoint where our container is, the measures and keep the above options open so transportation of cargo. We had Bangladesh Shipping
once we recognized the potential of digitization, number of containers, and the yard it is located in – all of it in that other people can use unused slots and Corporation (BSC) since 1973 but we could not utilize
Keeping activities digitally and virtually. Our entire port Every year we are handling around 3 million TEUs, making it company had to comply with above measures export. As per the WTO’s International Code of Conduc

we began utilizing it fully. We began to carry out
containers. With our intervention the shipping
real time.
we could utilize it, then we could carry 50% of our i

difficult to track individual containers manually. Our
system has a digital network. All over the
Liners Services for maritime cargo ratio is 40% of ca
and now the system is functioning smoothly.

country, we started doing our import-export,
automated system has made the process easier. The container
In Chittagong Port, there is no congestion, no
importers and 40% for the exporters and 20% by the re

the Country IGM, freight – everything – over digital means. is discharged from the ship onto a container mover. The driver shortage of containers and yard space. Yard world. In our case, we are both the importer and expo
space of Chittagong Port is 49018 TEUs. With
then inputs the name and location into the Hand-Held
Initially our people were slightly hesitant, but
Given the way the percentages are divided, we have th

within a matter of just a few days they became
opportunity to take 50% share of the pie if we have o
existing facilities, the port will be able to
Terminal (HHT) computerized system, and takes it to the yard

to stack it where he inputs the yard, stack and row numbers.
handle 4-5 million TEUs yearly and presently
acquainted with the efficiency of the digital
merchant fleet, but we do not have a sufficient numbe

system.
containers carrying vessels. Recently, the government
The information goes to CTMS, informing the operator where
we are handling about 3 million TEUs plus.

Moving Global ranking on the ports of the world is the container is. After collecting the container, the operator Bangladesh has made headlines taken the initiative to develop our commercial fleet

inputs the new position of subsequent containers. This helps
can carry our own cargo. Considering our trade volume
decided arbitrarily through the number of TEUs
considering the huge maritime resources

the system stay updated in real time.
handled at the port. Since there was a global
is around US$90 billion, we have the potential to car
we have at the Bay of Bengal. How can

shutdown and imports were slow to come to
around 45%-50% trade volume and we can earn US$10-$12
As Chittagong Port Authority we have many responsibilities.
we turn that potential into a reality?

Bangladesh, similarly even exports from

shipping there is a term called Common Carrier Agreement
because we have Flag Protection Regulation. It would
Bangladesh slowed down. This made buyers We have to keep the economy moving. In international What's your vision for that? billion as freight. The domestic rule is also in our
It is the responsibility of top decision makers
reluctant to send and receive cargo. However, the (CCA). Feeder vessels are coming to CPA and they used to to convert liabilities into assets, which is very significant impact on GDP.
overall efficiency of the port has not gone down. normally bring their own important. Earlier our people used to say that
After achieving a ground-breaking milestone of handling 10,000 containers in one The report we have this year is from 1 January cargos, they never used to our huge population is a liability. But look at it Recently BGMEA made a request for the release of
day, Rear Admiral M Shahjahan, Chairman of Chittagong Port Authority shares his 2020 to 31 December 2020 so it is not a recent share their surplus space or today, we have been successful in converting imported goods from CPA, instead of the same from

vision for the blue economy and how he plans on harnessing the enormous statistic. The 2021 report will be available next slot. For example, a ship has our population into human resource and now Inland Container Depot (ICD). Do you think this will
expedite the overall export import process? How are
potential of the country’s ports. year. Normally in Chittagong Port, we handle slots for 2.400 TEUs, but they are going outside for work and sending a you going to respond to such pleas?
around 270,000 – 285,000 TEUs in a month, but when she is leaving, she is huge volume of remittance which contributes a
because of the pandemic, the cargo flow slowed loaded 1,000 TEUs of laden lion share in our economy. All over the world there is no port except Chittagong
down to 140,000 TEUs between April 2020 to containers and another 500 In the Bay of Bengal, the primary perception which is unstuffing the FCL container cargoes and giv
You have an illustrious career. Previously you we can develop a deep seaport. A deep seaport will allow June 2020. It has picked up again to 280,000 – TEUs of empty containers, delivery of those from the port yards. FCL container
have headed the operations of Mongla Port Chittagong Port to provide service to all the regional ports like 290,000 TEUs. This year, both our import and and other slots remain was that the sea is blocking our country, but are coming to Chittagong Port and we are discharging
and now our principal port. What according to Mongla, Payra, Akyb, Yangon, Laem Cha Bang, Ranong, sea is the cheapest mode of transportation. ship, stacking in the yard, apprising, unstuffing and
you is the prospect of port led growth and how Phuket and in the western side Kolkata, Holdia, Vizag, and in export has gone up and in the last seven to eight unutilised, then she sails off Earlier we were preoccupied by land, but since delivering it to the users. Chittagong Port is an ISP
can it contribute to our economy? the south Andaman and Nicobar. months the cargo flow has been good and to Singapore or Colombo, but then we have realized the potential in our seas. port. After 9/11, the international ports have come
Port and shipping are two important segments of Currently in the Chittagong Port, if a ship is coming from encouraging. Now we stand at 2.1million TEUs she won’t share slots with And this was done by the Father of Nation security compliance. Last year, the US Coast Guard wa
maritime trade. The country’s maritime trade and Singapore to Bangladesh carrying a maximum of 2,400 TEUs, so we are making up the loss. We are aiming to others because there is Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman when monitoring and doing the survey and reporting back to
commerce is principally based on Chittagong Port. the freight cost from Chattogram – Singapore will come up to reach 3.2 million next year. So, we will be able to competition among feeder he enacted the Territorial Waters and Maritime government to ensure cargos are going safely to the E
Almost 98% of container cargo and 92% of the total US$1100- 1500. However, once the capacity of Chittagong Port rebound and perform even better next year. operators. This type of Zones Act 1974 in April 1974 and on the other and American market. Their observation was, not to un
trade of the country flows through the Chittagong is enhanced by constructing Bay Terminal, the freight will Importantly, last year our competitors like competition is driven by the hand, Law of the Sea was enacted in 1982 and to deliver cargo from Chittagong Port yards. If o
Port. Other ports like Mongla Port, Payra Port, Land come down to half, enabling us to bring vessels having 12 m Vietnam and China who are also in RMG buyers on some occasions by much later. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur the Chittagong Port on a busy day he will be greeted
Ports and Airport, all encompass about 8%. From drafts with 4000-5000 TEUs of containers. If Matarbari deep exporters were not affected as much as ours by making demands that certain Rahman has shown us the path and the chaotic scene with cargo being unstuffed in every yar
these statistics one can understand the importance of seaport terminal is in place and we have a deep seaport, then the pandemic and their ports were open, and we vessels should carry their potential that lies at sea. Our sea is full of hundreds of trucks and trailers going inside and load
seaports. It is not just in Bangladesh, globally the that port will be able to facilitate a vessel with a draft of 18 shipped cargo from China to Bangladesh. But cargo. We ensured this time living and non-living resources. Infrastructure, Every day Chittagong port handles more than 8,000 tr
maritime transportation is the cheapest and it meters carrying 8000 TEUs of container cargo. It will bring this time, it is the opposite with their ports that the feeder vessels are services, living and non-living are the 4 types covered vans and trailers. If we can deliver cargo fr
handles a huge volume of cargo at one go. For down freight to almost one third. Thus, port economics can shutdown and ours running at full capacity. signing CCA among of resources offered by the sea. At present we Docks, it’ll be more efficient. Rete and numbers of h
example, if you want to carry a cargo from make a difference in developing the national economy, and at themselves to share unused slots. We also ensured that Main are fishing and collecting minerals from the will increase manyfold.
Chittagong to Dhaka by land road, it takes US$350, the same time it will also be able to shape the economics of What are the other technical issues that Line Operators are signing Direct Interchange (DI) of seawater, seabed and from the subsoil there of. When cargo is discharged from the ship and it is in t
we need to overcome? Can you elaborate
at the same if you want to use the riverine road, from this entire Indian subcontinent and Bay of Bengal region. on the kind of digitization that has been Containers among the MLOs to share each other’s unused We are also using the sea surface for container yard, we allow 4 days of free-time. But if
Chittagong to ICT Pangaon, it is only $100. The done in the Chittagong Port? What are the empty containers to carry exports. Besides, we requested transportation of maritime trade. The sea is a to keep the cargo in the yard for a longer time than
Chittagong Port has 3-dimensional linkage – river, You were appointed during a difficult time, in the special measures you have taken to keep BGMEA to ask their foreign Buyers to keep the option open to road to reach the outside world and conduct use Chittagong Port as a storage, we cannot afford to
land and railway. This port is not only providing midst of a pandemic. How did you try to overcome the the country's import and export carry export using available feeder operator, MLO and stuffing import and export of goods to the foreign The government has given licenses to the Off Docks/ I
service to the domestic cargo, but at the same time it challenges you faced? Due to global trade slow down, uninterrupted? export goods in containers from Off Docks. We have asked country. If we would have a national flag most of the cargo for export is kept and stuffed from
is providing service to the regional countries, e.g., CPA's ranking was hampered globally. Tell us how we In the Chittagong Port we have a Computerized feeder vessel operators to redirect some of their vessels to container carrier commercial fleet both in the Importers want the same provision but it is making th
can rebound?
India, Nepal, Bhutan and in the future, it will be able I was appointed as the Chairman of Mongla Port Authority on Terminal Management System (CTMS). In some Chattogram-Colombo route from another route. Additionally, public and private sector; we could earn huge congested bringing down port efficiency because the p
to provide service to some extent to the landlocked 8th April, towards the very beginning of the pandemic. The countries it is known as the Terminal Operating we permitted six new vessels to operate between revenue in foreign currency which would be in is limited and it has to be used judiciously so we ca
Yunnan Province of China. At the same time, we can world has come to a halt with strict lockdowns in place. Due to System (TOS) and in others it is known as Port Chattogram-Colombo route to expedite export. More so, we the billions of US Dollars. better service to all stakeholders. Yet they can keep
also provide service to our eastern neighbour our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her able son; the Communicating System (PCS). Chittagong Port allowed Off Docks to store their empty containers in CPA’s yard For instance, the Maersk Line belongs to container cargoes in the port yard for four days free
Myanmar. The Chittagong Port has huge prospects if has been automated since 2011. Honourable to facilitate stuffing of goods in export containers at Off Docks. Denmark, a country close to the North Pole
Adviser to Hon'ble PM Sajeeb Wazed Joy’s brilliant initiative to and take delivery.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the We made an imperative that if anybody wants to come into
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