The crisis in the port of Colombo pushes shipping companies towards alternative routes
Mainline operators are now looking to ports in India, Singapore and Port Klang
Photo caption: Effective protection of local industries from tariffs increases despite lower tariffs on imported inputs. Photo: Mohamed Minhaj Uddin
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Photo caption: Effective protection of local industries from tariffs increases despite lower tariffs on imported inputs. Photo: Mohamed Minhaj Uddin
Strong points:
- 40% of Bangladesh’s exports are transported from Chattogram, using the port of Colombo
- The remaining 60% of products are shipped via Singapore, Port Klang and Tanjung Pelepas
- The port of Colombo was temporarily closed on May 10 due to recent political unrest in Sri Lanka
- Unable to dock at the port of Colombo, five mother ships of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) docked at the port of Ennore in India
Due to the ongoing political unrest in Sri Lanka, shipping companies are opting for transshipment routes that do not pass through the port of Colombo for the transport of goods to and from the port of Chattogram.
Major liner operators are now looking to ports in India, Singapore and Port Kelang.
Meanwhile, supply ship operators who still use Colombo Port have said that the volume of goods transported through this port has decreased significantly and may decrease further in the future.
The port of Colombo was temporarily closed on May 10 due to recent political unrest in Sri Lanka. Unable to dock at the port of Colombo, five Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) motherships docked at the port of Ennore in India.
Ajmer Hossain Chowdhury, head of operations and logistics at MSC, told The Business Standard: “We hijacked five mother ships of our company, which were heading to the port of Colombo, to India. From there, we shipped the goods to their various destinations.
The ships carried goods imported from Bangladesh and India. Six MSC feeder vessels operate on the Chattogram-Colombo route.
HR Lines, owned by the Karnaphuli Group, makes eight trips with four feeder vessels on the Chattogram-Colombo route to transport around 9,000 containers per month. However, due to the economic downturn and political violence in Sri Lanka, the company has cut freight transport on this route by nearly half.
A senior HR Lines official said one of the company’s ships – HR Farha – was due to leave Chattogram port for Colombo on May 15 (Sunday). The ship usually carries around 1,200 containers, but it has received bookings for around 600 containers through Saturday. The crisis in Sri Lanka as well as the Eid holidays caused the drop in bookings.
HR Line operates two other container ships on the Chattogram-Singapore-Port Kelang-Chattogram route.
Due to the shallow depth, vessels deeper than 9.5 meters cannot enter Chattogram Harbor jetties. Thus, the goods are first transshipped from Chattogram to Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia by feeder ships, and from there to the countries of destination by mother ships.
In the same way, containers carrying imported goods also arrive at Chattogram Port via transshipment ports.
Direct shipping from Chattogram to Europe has recently started, but the goods transported this way are very limited in volume.
According to people involved in the maritime sector, 40% of Bangladesh’s exports are transported from Chattogram, using the port of Colombo. The remaining 60% of products are shipped via Singapore, Port Klang, Malaysia and Tanjung Pelepas.
Rakibul Alam Chowdhury, vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said the ongoing violence in Sri Lanka is hampering the smooth transportation of goods. Buyers therefore use alternative routes such as Singapore, China and other ports to collect the goods.
Officials of shipping lines operating supply vessels on the route said many were considering using other ports, including India’s Krishnapatnam port.
Mainline operators have already offered feeder ship operators to transport containers from Krishnapatnam Port.