How are shipping agents faring in this crisis?
The business of shipping agents in Bangladesh is in line with the global trend. As you may know, the global shipping agent business is in a slump, resulting in many small and mid-level shipping agents merging with big organizations. They cannot survive as they cannot adapt and overcome the fall in freight. The condition in Bangladesh is the same. Our costs have increased due to the inefficiency of the port authorities as well as insufficient or subpar infrastructure, but we have not been able to increase the amount of freight. Therefore, we are facing various challenges in maintaining profits in our business.What types of challenges are you facing in conducting your businesses?
In order to conduct business as a shipping agency, we have to first receive a licence from the customs authority and then be endorsed by the port as an agency. We have to deal with both customs and port authorities by undertaking the responsibilities of a ship on behalf of the principal (owner). Therefore, we have been facing challenges from both regulatory authorities.What are the problems you face from customs authorities?
The big problem we are facing is one that is age-old – a backlog in customs formalities. Although it is encouraging that Bangladesh has entered the ASYCUDA (Automated System for Customs Data, an innovative, efficient, and effective method for customs procedures adopted by any modern customs authority worldwide), we are not getting all customs facilities that are online 24/7. For example, we can submit a manifest online, but if there is any problem in the manifest, we cannot make corrections online. As a result, we incur losses of both time and money. Besides, the practice of taking money under the table also prevails at customs houses. We have to give around Tk10,000 to Tk15,000 extra in total to speed up the correction of a manifest. Most of the Assistant Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners at the customs house do not sign any files without receiving some form of bribery. If all customs processes could be done online, this would stop.What are the port related problems?
Due to an insufficiency of proper infrastructure and a lack of equipment, vessels are having to wait at the outer anchorage for around 4-5 days, whereas it is supposed to be 12-24 hours at best. Because of this, we have to pay extra charter costs between $8,000 and $15,000 per ship per day (the amount of demurrage depends on the size of the ships). Although, the cost is primarily borne by the principals, importers have to reimburse the amount for the freight, which is ultimately borne by consumers. There is not enough equipment at the port – the crisis of gantry cranes hits the process of loading-unloading. The New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) was developed seven years ago, but it has not been able to start operations as there is no gantry crane.
Moreover, a shortage of lighter vessels is also affecting our business, as mother vessels have to wait up to three times longer at the port. Because of this, many renowned ship owners are losing interest in sending their ships to Chittagong.What is the major problem you are facing at the port?
The main problem is related to berthing. Due to an insufficient number of jetties, ships have to wait in queues for berthing. Despite an increase in vessel traffic, no jetties have been added to the port infrastructure in the last decade.
This has given rise to another problem called “priority berthing”. We are not against priority berthing if it is being done for the government, which has a greater public interest. These include the unloading of relief-carrying ships or emergency import goods belonging to the government. However, the facility of priority berthing is being misused by influential importers like BSRM, Abul Khair Group, and others with the help of port’s higher-ups. I personally believe that there will be no priority berthing for any individual’s interest, as there is no less important import or export and each business is equally important to its owner.Businesses allege that shipping agents often charge extra money from them. What do you have to say in this regard?
Businessmen who come up with such allegations harbour a misunderstanding. Let me make the facts clear. When an importer imports a product, they have been provided with a neat and clean container from the exporting end (my principal), but when the importer hands the container over to me, they do not give me a clean container even though they are supposed to. For this, we demand Tk300 for 20 feet, Tk500 for 40 feet containers as a cleaning charge. Is it unfair? I do not think this is an extra charge.
Moreover if the exporter from the exporting country did not pay any shipping charges, then it must be paid by the importer in this country as we are just carriers. But the importers do not want to pay the due charges of his business partner.
Also, we provide 11 days free time excluding the port’s four days to load or unload a ship and when the businesses take more than 15 days, we have to charge demurrages. We obviously have to collect the demurrage from businesses, as it is their fault. But again, the businesses are unwilling to pay this charge.As a result of these, there are allegations about us demanding separate demurrage rates. Let me clear this by explaining a simple fact that if the freight of ships varies, why should the demurrage charge not?
Overall, we cannot conduct our business outside international shipping line rules, norms and policies of operation, so we remain in line with international standards.
