Bangladesh’s Chattogram Port resumed operations Monday morning after more than a week of strike action in which dockworkers protested the expected lease of its biggest terminal to a foreign operator.
More labor disruptions could still be in play, with the port workers postponing their work stoppage until Feb. 16.
The strike and ensuing postponement have been spearheaded by the Chattogram Bandar Rokkha-Sangram Parishad, which translates loosely in English to the Chattogram Port Protection Action Committee.
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Container vessels began discharging cargo at the port’s jetties starting Monday at 8 a.m., while workers began loading containers that had idled onto ships.
The move was taken to ensure that cargo movement at the country’s central port would resume before Bangladesh’s election takes place Thursday and that essential goods could be cleared from the area ahead of the month-long Ramadan holiday, which starts Feb. 17.
On Jan. 31, the Sangram Parishad began to conduct eight-hour work stoppages that lasted for three days, with the committee demanding cancellation of an expected lease that would shift operation of the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) from domestic state-owned ship repair company Chattogram Dry Dock Limited to U.A.E.-based terminal operator giant DP World.
The labor action escalated last Tuesday, when the committee said it would extend the strike indefinitely until the government stepped in to cancel talks between DP World and the Chattogram Port Authority (CPA). The group paused the strike on Thursday afternoon after leadership with Bangladesh’s Shipping Adviser M. Sakhawat Hussain before resuming it early Sunday.
Import and export activities across all of Chattogram’s three terminals—NCT, the port’s General Cargo Berth and the Chattogram Container Terminal—had been suspended during the strikes.
The decision to lease the NCT gateway to a foreign company has been unpopular with workers at Chattogram Port alongside Bangladeshi businesses, both of whom have shown concerns about possible service cost increases as well as potential international influence on the country’s port systems.
But the committee’s change of heart came as news suggested the DP World deal would not be as imminent as many expected.
The proposed 15-year lease is unlikely to be finalized before Thursday’s election takes place, according to Ashik Chowdhury, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority.
Speaking at an event in Dhaka on Saturday, Chowdhury indicated that discussions would probably be carried forward by the next government, as the port operator had sought additional time to undertake a detailed review of the draft concession agreement. Chowdhury said DP World was broadly satisfied with the progress of the negotiations.
Four of Bangladesh’s top trade associations sent a joint letter to the country’s head of state Muhammad Yunus early Monday ahead of the strike’s cessation, urging his direct intervention to resume the port’s operations as the demonstrations had disrupted exports and imports.
The leaders of the Bangladesh Employers’ Federation (BEF), Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) jointly signed the letter.
According to the signatories, 99 percent of containerized trade takes place through the port, which handles about 78 percent of the country’s seaborne exports and imports.
Importers had also faced heavy port demurrage charges every day due to the prolonged stay of goods at the port, further potentially harming the economy, the trade organizations said.
The lobbying groups’ concerns regarding the disruption appeared to be warranted.
According to a Monday report from Bangladeshi publication The Business Standard, the work stoppage left export containers worth roughly 6,500 crore taka ($532,000) stranded at inland container depots (ICDs) that host excess cargo transported to Chattogram.
Citing data from the CPA, the publication said 13,483 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) remained stuck, while another 1,400 TEUs were expected to enter the depots on Monday. At the port’s terminal yards, more than 41,000 TEUs were piled up, the report said.
More than 90 vessels carrying food grains, commodities and other cargo were waiting at the port and outer anchorage.
The Sangram Parishad leaders announced that their strike will be revived if the government did not meet five demands. The group is seeking the cancellation of the lease of NCT to DP World, as well as the dismissal of CPA chairman Rear Admiral Sayed Mohammad Moniruzzaman.
The collective is also calling for the release of five arrested workers and the withdrawal of charges against them. Additionally, the group is demanding the withdrawal of orders to transfer 15 employees to different ports outside Chattogram, and the cancellation of the new housing allotments of those workers.
