Congestion causes delays in Chittagong harbor

18 May 2016

Chittagong, Bangladesh’s largest harbor, will probably be affected by delays for the coming months. At the moment, a large fleet of vessels whom are waiting to be unloaded are congesting the harbor. There are three causes to this problem:

• Because of the strikes earlier this month, the unloading process is delayed;
• More ships are visiting the Chittagong harbor than initially planned;
• Lack of capacity: insufficient amount of quays for ships to dock.

As a result, all import going to Bangladesh has a 2 to 3-day delay.

Similar problems have occurred before in Chittagong. We know from experience that this has little influence on exports going to Europe. Feeder vessels are supposed to leave Chittagong for a transshipment port according to schedule. At those harbors, they stock up mother vessels. Momentarily, feeder vessels are not travelling according to schedule. Containers are simply loaded upon the first available feeder. An advantage to these irregularities, is that delays are mostly avoided.

The trouble in Chittagong will probably last until July. Despite the fact that we don’t expect any delays for our customers’ orders, we are watching all developments closely. If any problems arise with your order, we shall contact you personally.