The Department of Shipping has initiated legal proceedings against 13 vessels on charges of intentionally delaying the unloading of goods to create an artificial food scarcity.
A total of Tk1.15 lakh in fines has been realised from these vessels so far, while cases against two companies are currently pending.
Commodore Mohammad Shafiul Bari, director general of the Department of Shipping, made the disclosure during a press conference held at the department’s conference room in Agargaon on Sunday afternoon.
He stated that mobile courts are already operational and regular raids are being conducted at locations where goods have been stockpiled.
The press conference highlighted that the arrival of cargo-carrying mother vessels at Chattogram port surged significantly in January due to increased demand for consumer goods ahead of the upcoming holy month of Ramadan.
Currently, 110 ships are positioned at the outer anchorage, comprising 36 food-carrying vessels and 74 others. While the maximum number of food-carrying ships during last year’s Ramadan was 43, that figure rose to 61 in the first half of January this year alone.
The director general noted that while the sudden increase in ships led to a temporary shortage of lighter vessels, the crisis has now been resolved. There are currently 2,258 lighter vessels engaged in transporting goods across internal river routes.
To resolve the situation, three special task forces have been formed, comprising the Department of Shipping, Bangladesh Coast Guard, Naval Police, and executive magistrates.
These teams are receiving support from the Bangladesh Navy and the Chattogram Port Authority.
Since 15 January, regular operations have been conducted in the Shitalakshya and Dhaleshwari rivers in Narayanganj, the Buriganga in Dhaka, the Meghna in Munshiganj, Ashuganj in Brahmanbaria, the Karnaphuli in Chattogram, and the Bhairab river in Noapara, Jashore.
Over the last 17 days, 409 lighter ships were inspected. Among them, 292 ships had been waiting for less than 10 days, 87 for more than 10 days, and 30 ships for over 20 days to unload cargo.
Inspections conducted on 1 February revealed that unloading is now proceeding at a rapid pace across all terminals from Narayanganj to Noapara.
The Bangladesh Water Transport Co-ordination Cell (BWTCC) reported that 735 lighter ships were allocated in the past 15 days.
Besides, modern IT-based software was launched on 30 January to manage lighter vessels, aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in the allocation process and the unloading of goods from mother vessels.
However, the director general pointed out that some delays persist due to manual unloading methods at various terminals. To address this, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) has been directed to arrange for cargo unloading via automatic cranes.
The Department of Shipping confirmed that the special task force raids and digital monitoring will continue until the lighter vessel shortage is completely eliminated.
