Chattogram Port returned to normal operations from 8:00am on Monday after remaining virtually idle for seven consecutive days due to a strike that began on January 31.
Container loading and unloading from vessels has resumed in full swing, while the delivery of imported goods across the port yard has picked up pace.
Export containers are once again flowing into the port from inland depots, and lighter vessels have restarted carrying cargo from mother vessels at the outer anchorage.
The Chattogram Bondar Rokkha Shongram Porishad announced the suspension of the strike shortly after midnight on Sunday through a media notification. A press release signed by its two coordinators, Md Humayun Kabir and Md Ibrahim Khokon, confirmed that the programme would remain suspended.
Chattogram Port Authority spokesperson and Director (Administration) Mohammad Omar Faruk told Times of Bangladesh that all operational activities, including the loading and unloading of goods and container delivery, had resumed from Monday morning.
“Chattogram Port is now fully operational. All types of activities have started in a normal manner,” he said.
Terminal and berth operators said vessel arrivals and departures at the main jetties have also returned to normal. Ships are leaving the port after loading containers, while C&F agents have started collecting imported goods. The port area became visibly active from Monday afternoon.
Port data show that not a single container was delivered in the 24 hours leading up to 8:00am Monday. At that time, the port yard was holding 42,757 TEUs of containers.
As of Monday morning, 10 container ships, two general cargo vessels and one food grain ship were berthed at the main jetties. Another 98 vessels were staying at the outer anchorage, bringing the total number of workable ships at the port to 114.
Officials noted that the number of container ships waiting at the outer anchorage had risen significantly during the protests. While this figure usually ranges between zero, one or two, it stood at 13 on Monday morning. They said it would take several more days for the backlog to clear.
Export activities have also resumed at the 21 private inland container depots (ICDs) in Chattogram. Containers that had piled up in depots during the strike began moving towards the port from early Monday.
Ruhul Amin Sikder, secretary general of the depot owners’ association BICDA, said that while depots normally hold around 8,000 TEUs of export containers, the number had surged to 14,569 TEUs as of Monday morning due to the disruption.
Md Sarwar Hossain, chairman of the Bangladesh Ship Handling and Berth Operators Association, said unloading from mother vessels to lighter ships at the outer anchorage has “almost fully normalised”. Lighter vessels are now transporting wheat, sugar, corn, soybeans, lentils and industrial raw materials through inland waterways across the country.
Despite the resumption of activities, traders remain concerned as the agitation over the proposed lease of the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) has not been fully withdrawn. Workers have warned that they may resume protests after February 16 if punitive measures taken against labour leaders are not withdrawn.
In a statement, the Chattogram Bondar Rokkha Shongram Porishad said the strike programme has been postponed from February 9 to 15, citing the national parliamentary elections and the need to ensure the release of goods ahead of Ramadan.
The Chattogram Port Authority, meanwhile, has taken several disciplinary steps, including the arrest of five employees, filing of cases, transfer of 15 employees to other ports, cancellation of staff housing allocations, punitive action against protesting staff, and the temporary suspension of 16 employees.
The protest platform said it would announce its next course of action at a press conference on February 16 if their demands are not addressed.
