当前位置：新闻动态
Shippers face fines for using Chittagong waterfront as warehouse
来源： 编辑：编辑部 发布：2018/04/20 16:20:27
CHITTAGONG port in Bangladesh is urging shippers take delivery of their full container load (FCL) containers immediately to ease chronic congestion and to avoid being hit with additional storage charges.
The Chittagong Port Authority has met with representatives from the chambers of commerce to give them a week as of Monday this week to free up space or be fined, reported IHS Media.
The chamber representatives will request that members they "take delivery of containers within the free days [four days] of their unloading", said Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) traffic director Golam Sarwar.
After a container is unloaded from a vessel to the yard, the CPA lets shippers store the container in the yard for free for four days, on the fifth day, storage rent is charged.
As the rent is comparatively low, some businessmen allegedly are using the port yard as a warehouse and they take delivery of their containers, as needed. When the number of containers stored exceed the yard's capacity, the CPA acts to reduce the excess containers by charging extra rent.
Under the Regulation for the Working of Chittagong Port (cargo and containers) 2001, the port authority can charge up to US$12 per TEU and $24 per FEU, in addition to regular daily rent, to discourage shippers from keeping containers at the port yard.
"Unless the situation is improved within the next seven days, we will impose an additional rent, alongside the regular rent, to free the space, as container handling is hampered, due to their non-delivery," said Mr Sarwar.
He said if the situation does not improve after the imposition of additional rent, the charges may be increased again given that the port has 39,000 containers stockpiled.
Earlier, on April 8 the CPA issued a statement saying that due to the increasing container stockpile, normal activity at the port had been hampered.
Former Chittagong Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) Director Mahfuzul Huq Shah said that during a meeting shippers informed the port authority that a lack of adequate vehicles and some banking-related problems had delayed many shippers from taking possession of their containers.
"Recently, the number of FCL containers also has started to increase. So, a stock of FCL containers has occurred in the port yard," he said. "We are hopeful that the problem will go away soon."
The Chittagong Port Authority has met with representatives from the chambers of commerce to give them a week as of Monday this week to free up space or be fined, reported IHS Media.
The chamber representatives will request that members they "take delivery of containers within the free days [four days] of their unloading", said Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) traffic director Golam Sarwar.
After a container is unloaded from a vessel to the yard, the CPA lets shippers store the container in the yard for free for four days, on the fifth day, storage rent is charged.
As the rent is comparatively low, some businessmen allegedly are using the port yard as a warehouse and they take delivery of their containers, as needed. When the number of containers stored exceed the yard's capacity, the CPA acts to reduce the excess containers by charging extra rent.
Under the Regulation for the Working of Chittagong Port (cargo and containers) 2001, the port authority can charge up to US$12 per TEU and $24 per FEU, in addition to regular daily rent, to discourage shippers from keeping containers at the port yard.
"Unless the situation is improved within the next seven days, we will impose an additional rent, alongside the regular rent, to free the space, as container handling is hampered, due to their non-delivery," said Mr Sarwar.
He said if the situation does not improve after the imposition of additional rent, the charges may be increased again given that the port has 39,000 containers stockpiled.
Earlier, on April 8 the CPA issued a statement saying that due to the increasing container stockpile, normal activity at the port had been hampered.
Former Chittagong Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) Director Mahfuzul Huq Shah said that during a meeting shippers informed the port authority that a lack of adequate vehicles and some banking-related problems had delayed many shippers from taking possession of their containers.
"Recently, the number of FCL containers also has started to increase. So, a stock of FCL containers has occurred in the port yard," he said. "We are hopeful that the problem will go away soon."