Chittagong Port News

China and Myanmar are moving ahead with a China-backed deep-sea port project in Kyauk Phyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) , 250 miles northwest of Yangon.The framework agreement was signed by Myanmar's Deputy Minister of Planning and Finance and Chairperson of the Management Committee of the Kyaukphyu SEZ U Set Aung and President of CITIC Group Chang Zhenming, stated Chinese state media.This is the third port in India’s vicinity. China is also developing deepwater strategic Gwadar port in Pakistan in the Arabian Sea which faces the Mumbai coast. It has also acquired Sri Lanka's Hambantota port on debt swap in the Indian Ocean. It is also…

A total of 40 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships (comprising 29 actual incidents and 11 attempted incidents) were reported in Asia during January-June 2018 compared to 47 incidents (comprising 40 actual incidents and seven attempted incidents) during January-June 2017.ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC) in its Half-Yearly (January to June 2018) Report said that it was the lowest number of incidents reported among the 10-year reporting period of January-June of 2009-2018.This accounts for a 15% decrease in the number of incidents reported during January-June 2018 compared to January-June 2017. Of the 40 incidents reported during January-June 2018…

The Prime Mover-Trailer Owners Workers Unity Council of Chittagong Oikya Parishad has postponed their ongoing strike till October 4 at Chittagong Port. This has ended the deadlock in goods transportation at the sea port for the time being. The strike has created largest ever gridlock of containers in the recent history of Chittagong port. A total of 40,259 TEUs of containers were stockpiled at the port exceeding 36,357 TEUs capacity. The decision was taken on Friday (September 30) morning after the meeting that held with the participation of Workers secretary of the organisation Mohammad Humayun Kabir and Chittagong Metropolitan Police Commissioner Iqbal Bahar.

Sometimes being an industry supplier offers interesting insights – your business is touched by the ups and downs of the charter market, but you are never so involved in it that you lose sight of the big picture. Some of our clients have been hit hard by the market’s general downturn; one client I visited last month began 2008 with 41 maritime software licenses for their vessels – just seven remain today. “We just sold another ship yesterday,” he said, and then after a pause: “Please spare me the update costs for this one, it won’t receive any.” Of course, I nodded.

A cyclone battered coastal Bangladesh on Saturday, killing at least 21 people and injuring many more, but has now weakened into a depression that the weather office said could still bring brief periods of violent wind or rain. Authorities in low-lying Bangladesh have moved about 500,000 people into 3,500 shelters, the disaster minister said. Cyclone Roanu has killed people in house collapses, landslides and a storm surge that broke embankments at two places in the Chittagong port city in the southeast. "We've shifted most of the people who are vulnerable," said Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, adding that people were working "all-out" to contain and tackle the damage.

Bangladesh and Thailand are planning to launch direct coastal shipping, connecting the Chittagong Port in the Bay of Bengal with the Ranong Port in the East of the Andaman coast in south-western Thailand. Bangladesh Ambassador to Thailand Saida Muna Tasneem said: “Both Bangladesh and Thailand are planning to start direct coastal ships. The coastal communication between Bangladesh and Thailand will take place with the help of Chittagong and Ranong ports. Goods shipped between the two countries currently pass through Singapore and take two weeks, a time period that should be cut to six days with direct shipping, according to a Thai transport official.

At least 13 people were killed and 50 injured when fire broke out aboard a disused oil tanker near Bangladesh's Chittagong port on Wednesday, police and fire officials said. The exact cause of the fire on the 400,000 dwt tanker, M.T. Dena, which was at a ship-breaking yard, is not yet known. Witnesses said the fire followed a big explosion that tore off part of the tanker while workers were dismantling it using gas torches. Police said the blaze was under control and a rescue operation was under way. The death count could rise, they added. Bangladeshi shipbreakers Z.N. Enterprise bought the disused tanker from an Iranian company a few months ago, yard officials said.

An indefinite strike by lorry drivers halted deliveries from Bangladesh's main Chittagong port on Tuesday, port officials said. "The deliveries have been stopped as lorry operators refused to carry cargo from this morning in protest against restriction on the unauthorized movement of trucks," an official said. A Chittagong Port Authority directive said only registered trucks could operate in the port. "We will not operate if the restriction is not withdrawn," said an official from the Chittagong Port Truck Owners Association. Approximately 3,000 trucks transport 30,000 tons cargo to and from the port daily, a port official said. The port officials said nearly 30 ships were moored at jetties and outer anchorages…

Mongla port workers ended a six-day strike on Thursday after being assured authorities would investigate the deaths of four people and the wounding of 100 others from police firing during the demonstration. "Workers resumed handling of cargo today after they were given assurances that an official probe will be conducted into the violent incident that led to the killing of the workers," a port official said. He said State Minister for Shipping and Ports, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, had given the assurance at a meeting with port union leaders on Wednesday. Police on Tuesday opened fire when about 2,000 workers, striking since Friday to demand the port employ more casual workers, tried to storm port offices.

Oil and gas firm Cairn Energy announced plans for further exploration and development drilling in Bangladesh's offshore gas field. Cairn Energy is currently operating Bangladesh's only offshore gas field at Sangu in the Bay of Bengal, off Chittagong port. In addition, Cairn is actively exploring in blocks 5 and 10, where new seismic data has been acquired, and is participating with Chevron in block 7, where a seismic campaign commenced recently. It has identified a new possible gas field at Char Jabbar under Noakhali district in block 10 with an indication of 2.8 tcf of gas reserves. Cairn also conducted seismic surveys at Meghnama and at Hatiya under the block 16. The possible gas reserve would be 3.5 tcf at Meghnama and 1.8 tcf at Hatiya, Reuters reported.

Strikes, and poor management and infrastructure at Bangladesh's Chittagong port are costing shippers thousands of dollars and hampering the country's external trade. Chittagong, which handles 80 percent of the struggling country's external trade, is facing major problems, a top shipping executive said. Bad management, poor infrastructure, and shortage of handling equipment are the major operational problems facing the port, the officials said. Also, frequent political and labor strikes have impeded the functionality of the port. He said the stay-time for vessels had ballooned because of the strikes, which regularly bring the country to a standstill. The port's 16 berths handled 1,469 ships in calendar 1999, up from 1,352 the previous year.

A strike at Bangladesh's main Chittagong port has left some 65 ships carrying 1.3 million tons of cargo stranded, officials said on Friday. The 36-hour strike, (involving 20,000 workers), which kicked off early on Thursday, is over plans by a U.S. company to build a private container terminal, has halted cargo handling and deliveries. The port, which is the nation's main cargo handling center, was also shut for 24 hours last Monday after industrial action against the proposed private terminal. "We expect to resume full operations by Saturday morning," the port's terminal manager, said. The government agreed in principle in 1997 to allow Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) to build a $500 million private terminal to speed up handling of containers at Chittagong.

A day-long nationwide strike called by Bangladesh's opposition parties last Tuesday (Nov. 16) dealt a fresh blow to the country's shipping sector, already hit by political unrest in the country, officials and traders said. "Fifty ships including 11 carrying about 150,000 tons of foodgrains were stranded at berths and at the outer anchorages on Tuesday," said Mohsin Sarkar, traffic director of Chittagong Port, which handles 80 percent of the country's exports and imports. More than 10,000 tons of ready-made garments and frozen foods were awaiting export at the port on Tuesday, he said. Sarkar said cargo handling has slowed and the maximum "stay time" for a ship has shot up to 15 days from earlier five days due to frequent strikes.

A day-long nationwide strike called by Bangladesh's opposition parties has dealt a fresh blow to the country's shipping sector, already hit by political unrest in the country, according to officials and traders. Fifty ships were stranded at berths and at the outer anchorages on Nov. 16, said a traffic director at Chittagong Port, which handles 80 percent of the country's exports and imports. Twenty-nine more ships were stranded at Bangladesh's only other port at Mongla, where casual workers have been on strike since Nov. 9 demanding permanent jobs, officials said.