FOUR more multi-purpose container vessels are to call at the Bangladeshi ports of Chittagong and Dhaka in the coming months to ease road and highway congestion. Three of these types of vessels are already in operation at the ports.
The four extra vessels will add a total of 632 TEU carrying capacity which ought to relieve the substantial backlog because on an average day Chittagong handles 7,000 TEU. Of that total, a considerable portion of the cargo is delivered in the Chittagong area.
The Bangladesh Navy built the vessels, and each has a capacity of 158 TEU. They'll be operated by the state-owned Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC), reported IHS Media.
The vessels will carry in and outbound containers from Chittagong port and Pangaon Inland Container Terminal (PICT), situated in a Dhaka suburb, providing relief for Bangladeshi shippers.
BIWTC additional chief engineer M A Gafur Sarker expects to attract export-import containers, as transporting cargo via highway is slower and more expensive. Currently, shippers pay US$99 to transport one 20-foot container to Chittagong port via boat from Dhaka, while by road the cost is between $200 and $300.
When congestion is acute, it takes 24 to 36 hours for a truck to travel to the inland container depots (ICDs) near Chittagong port; the normal travel time is 10 to 12 hours. After reaching the ICDs in Chittagong, the cargo is then loaded onto feeder vessels to reach mother vessels in Singapore or Colombo. Container packing at ICDs and customs processes take another one to two days.
By waterway the transit time is 12 to 16 hours from Dhaka to Chittagong port direct, where they are loaded onto feeder vessels for transit to mother vessels, without any delay.
The four extra vessels will add a total of 632 TEU carrying capacity which ought to relieve the substantial backlog because on an average day Chittagong handles 7,000 TEU. Of that total, a considerable portion of the cargo is delivered in the Chittagong area.
The Bangladesh Navy built the vessels, and each has a capacity of 158 TEU. They'll be operated by the state-owned Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC), reported IHS Media.
The vessels will carry in and outbound containers from Chittagong port and Pangaon Inland Container Terminal (PICT), situated in a Dhaka suburb, providing relief for Bangladeshi shippers.
BIWTC additional chief engineer M A Gafur Sarker expects to attract export-import containers, as transporting cargo via highway is slower and more expensive. Currently, shippers pay US$99 to transport one 20-foot container to Chittagong port via boat from Dhaka, while by road the cost is between $200 and $300.
When congestion is acute, it takes 24 to 36 hours for a truck to travel to the inland container depots (ICDs) near Chittagong port; the normal travel time is 10 to 12 hours. After reaching the ICDs in Chittagong, the cargo is then loaded onto feeder vessels to reach mother vessels in Singapore or Colombo. Container packing at ICDs and customs processes take another one to two days.
By waterway the transit time is 12 to 16 hours from Dhaka to Chittagong port direct, where they are loaded onto feeder vessels for transit to mother vessels, without any delay.