Loaded, stuck vessels need to be freed immediately

Amid the ongoing shutdown, a number of oceangoing vessels and more than five hundred lighterage vessels are stuck in rivers and seaports across the country loaded with hundreds of thousands tons of raw material.

The vessels are mainly carrying construction material of related industries.

Industry people are seeking administrative support to unload and free the vessels so that they could be used in the upcoming transportation of more essential goods.

In a statement on Wednesday, the president of the Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association, Alamgir Kabir said, "If we cannot free the vessels immediately, there is a risk of vessel shortage in cases of transporting emergency goods, both for mother vessels and lighterage vessels."

Besides, the stuck mother vessels will charge the importers more foreign currency if the waiting time increases, he said.  

"More importantly, if we can't immediately unload and free the vessels, then in the coming days there might be a crisis in goods transportation through river and ocean, especially when Bangladesh may need to transport more essential commodities in the upcoming Ramadan and Eid," said Kabir.

Currently, the loaded vessels are stuck because they have lower administrative priority in the queue of unloading during this unusual time of reduced activity. Labour shortage is also another reason for it.

However, industry players have expressed readiness to unload the raw material with full health compliance.