Apparel and other export-oriented manufacturers on Wednesday requested the government to devise a way out for resolving the deepening container crisis.
They made their pleas at a meeting with Shipping Secretary Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury on the day.
An attendee of the meeting, requesting anonymity, said that the ministry and the port authorities will try to mitigate the crisis as much as they can, as it is a global crisis and there is not much they can do regarding that.
The exporters, shipping agents and freighters should work in coordination with each other to resolve the problem, said the attendee.
Port authorities have suggested revising the container use agreements of various MLO companies as it is unusual to carry containers of a MLO company by other companies.
Earlier, leaders of various exporters’ associations, shipping agents, freight forwarders, and other stakeholders together held a meeting on Tuesday.
Also Read - Global container crisis hits Bangladeshi exporters
According to the meeting, shortage of empty containers and vessels, as well as congestion at regional transshipment ports have led to a severe crisis, hindering shipment of export cargoes to Europe and the USA.
Moreover, empty container vessels are taking time to return to Bangladesh from the European and US ports due to slow unloading there, causing container and vessel shortage in the Chittagong port, said the exporters.
At the meeting they decided to work together and seek the government’s intervention to address the problem
They demanded the concerned authorities to not increase any charges fixed by freight forwarders/shipping lines during the pandemic.
Exporters urged to follow appropriate methods to solve the container crisis and maintain coordination among shipping line companies to ensure proper use of empty containers.
They also requested the port authority to allow more feeder vessels to berth at the port to address the container and vessel shortage and to arrange an export yard on temporary basis to facilitate loading-unloading of cargoes at the private inland container depots (ICDs).
Hundreds of trucks with exporting goods queue up in front of ICDs as the apparel exporters worry about whether they would be able to ship products on time.
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan presided over the meeting while leaders from BKMEA, BTMA, BGAPMEA, vice presidents, and directors of BGMEA were also present.
Responsible leaders from Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association (BFFA), Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA), Leathergoods and Footwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB) were also present.
Exports from Bangladesh have been facing unexpected delays for the last couple of months owing to the global container crisis.
According to Chittagong port officials, this has been partly brought on by the excess congestion in many Asian transshipment ports, especially Singapore, Port Klang in Malaysia, and Colombo in Sri Lanka.
As a result, the inland container depots (ICDs) in Bangladesh are failing to transfer the products to the ports due to the acute shortage of containers. This problem has been amplified by delays in getting space on mother vessels in the transshipment ports, said port insiders.
The readymade garment (RMG) industry is suffering the most from this crisis as the largest part of the exporting containers are of apparel products.
Along with RMG products, other goods are also stuck in many consignments, leaving exporters worried about timely shipments and fearing order cancellations.
Syed Nazul Islam, first vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told Dhaka Tribune that the freighters cannot book space on mother vessels and there is also a shortage of proper containers.
Buyers are likely to ask for discounts if they cannot get the products to their stores on time. This delay in shipping will have a long-term impact on Bangladesh's exports, he added.
However, attendees of Wednesday’s meeting suggested increasing the number of ships, constructing new berths at the Chittagong port and to increase the draft suitable for mother vessels to avoid such crises in the future.
