Customs, pilotage most corrupt sector in maritime industry: MACN
Neither the International Maritime Organisation nor Bangladesh has any specific regulation to address the corruption in this industry.
Maritime experts have identified customs, pilotage and port state control among the major areas of corruption in the maritime industry of Bangladesh, which in turn affects the overall economy of the country.
However, neither the International Maritime Organisation nor Bangladesh has any specific regulation to address the corruption in this industry, Commodore (retd) Syed Ariful Islam, project manager of Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN), said at a seminar jointly organised by the Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) and MACN on Monday.
The cumulative effect of this corruption hinders growth in the shipping industry of the country, According to the MACN.
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Some estimates suggest that the annual growth in terms of GDP could have been at least 2%–3% higher if efforts to curb corruption were moderately improved, said Syed Ariful Islam.
Speakers at the programme also said that corruption in the country's shipping sector has multiple negative effects such as ports incurring several direct and indirect costs for shipping companies, ports losing revenue and increased cost of doing business, investors getting discouraged and local companies losing business.
Speaking as the chief guest at the seminar, CPA Chairman Rear Admiral M Shahjahan said that sometimes there is a delay in getting the customs clearance and the cargo is shorted on the ship. As a result, the number of Protection and Indemnity claims on ships increases.
He added that there are many cases of misdeclaration of length and draft of ships. However, CPA has increased the number of ship pilots and their salaries. As a result, corruption is decreasing relatively after 2018.
While talking about the limitations of the port, the CPA chairman said the arrival and departure of ships at the port depends on the tide. Large ships cannot be handled at night. Despite various limitations, the capacity of the port is constantly increasing.
The entire operation of the port has been digitised.
Direct shipping has started in some European countries. Recently, ships of 10 metres draft and 200 metres length have started loading at the port. The number of gantry cranes has been increased and There are plans to purchase more equipment, he added.
