CPA raises storage rents to cut container congestion

Congestion caused by the main line operators' failure to transport containers in time is disrupting operational activity at Chittagong port.

To reduce the congestion, the Chittagong Port Authority increased rents on Friday for storing 20-feet empty containers by four times to $24 and $48 for 40-feet containers a day.

The CPA suspended transportation of empty containers from private inland container depots or off-docks.

Port officials, shipping executives and berth operators are blaming each other for such congestion.

A total of 7,607 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) empty containers piled up at the port until yesterday while it has designated space for about 5,500 TEUs.

Fazle Ekram Chowdhury, president of Ship Handling and Terminal Operator Owners' Association, said it now takes hours to pull out a particular export or import container from the stockpile due to such congestion.

He said the delay is mainly caused by the slow pace of activity since Ramadan and the incessant rains in recent weeks.

The port's operation remained virtually shut for two days due to Cyclone Komen last month.

The port's users, including berth operators and shipping executives, also blamed slow operation on the shortage of equipment like straddle carriers used in container handling.

A shipping executive preferring anonymity said the port authority does not procure handling equipment in line with the increasing volume of port activities.

Refuting the allegation, Md Jafar Alam, CPA member for admin and planning, said CPA with its existing logistic support achieved 15 percent growth in container handling in 2014-15 compared to last fiscal year.

The process of procuring more equipment is going on, Alam said.

The trucks that carry containers to private off-docks always prefer taking occupied containers than the empty ones for higher fares, which fuelled the stockpiling, he said.

Alam, however, hoped the situation would improve in two to three days with the hike in storage rents and suspension of empty container transport.