The Crime Desk: Lighterage vessel workers have been on strike across the country since 12 midnight on Thursday, demanding the trial of the murder of seven lighterage vessel workers on the Meghna River in Chandpur on Monday, compensation of Tk 20 lakh to the families of each of the deceased, and ensuring safety on the waterways. This continued on Saturday as well but was withdrawn at night. Immediately after the seven murders, the Boat Workers Federation had set a 72-hour deadline for the administration to make four demands. Lighterage vessel movement on waterways across the country has been suspended due to the strike by the boat workers. As a result, unloading of goods from foreign commercial vessels anchored at various river ports in the country has been completely halted. This has almost collapsed the country’s goods supply system.
The Chittagong office said that the unloading of all types of goods from large ships to small ships or lighterage vessels at the outer anchorage of Chittagong Port was suspended for the second day yesterday, Saturday, as the boat workers’ strike continued. Goods were not transported on the country’s internal waterways, including 16 ghats on the Karnaphuli River. The supply chain for transporting essential goods from Chittagong Port to the rest of the country has collapsed. Traders and port stakeholder sources have expressed fears that this will have an adverse impact on commodity prices.
As a result of the shipping strike, the supply chain of essential goods, including food products and industrial raw materials coming from Chittagong by sea, has come to a complete standstill in the last two days. As a result, road transport of goods from the seaport has also come to a standstill. Hundreds of trucks, pickups, and covered vans have been idle at various places, including Sadarghat and Banglabazarghat, for two days.
Hundreds of lighterage ships are anchored at various places. At least 20 foreign mother vessels are waiting to be unloaded at the outer anchorage. As a result, the fixed operating cost (FOC) or daily cost of each ship is being added to the cost of transporting goods every day, said a shipping agent association source.
Meanwhile, according to the Bangladesh Water Transport Coordination Cell, the lighter ship control organization, about 1 million tons of goods are stuck in 738 ships at 45 wharves in the country due to the strike by the boatmen. Of these, the largest number of ships are stuck at Noapara Ghat in Jessore, Kanchpur Ghat in Narayanganj, Meghna Ghat, and Ghorashal Ghat in Sirajganj. A large number of lighterage ships are also floating idly with goods in the Karnaphuli River and its 16 wharves.
In addition, more than 50,000 tons of goods were loaded from large ships at the outer anchorage of the port to be taken to the country’s ports. Since the imported goods were not unloaded on time, the ships are not able to leave as per the scheduled schedule. Again, at least 500,000 tons of goods were waiting to be unloaded in 20 mother vessels at the outer anchorage of the port until yesterday.
Khairul Alam Sujan, Director of Chittagong Port Affairs of Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association, said, “The country has already suffered economic losses due to this ship strike. When such problems occur, the owners of mother vessels or large ships demand higher ship fares for transporting goods in a country like ours. As a result, there is an adverse impact on import and export goods. At this time, there is a limited number of lighterage ships in the port, so the economic losses in their resources continue to increase after the strike. Demurrage charges are imposed on industrial raw materials and stranded food products. That additional cost will be passed on to the importers and exporters. As a result, they will increase the prices of the products to cover the losses. The pressure of which will ultimately fall on the consumers.
Mizanur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Lighterage Workers Union Chittagong, said over the telephone that the leaders of the Shipping Workers Federation and allied organizations are going to meet with senior government officials. They were waiting for DG Shipping Commodore Mohammad Maksud Alam to come to the meeting at that moment.
Staff reporter Narayanganj said that due to the strike of the ship workers, the movement of lighter ships in the Shitalakshya, Buriganga, Dhaleshwari, and Meghna rivers is stopped. The ships have been anchored at various places in the river.
A correspondent from Abhaynagar (Jashore) said that due to the strike of the ship workers of Abhaynagar upazila of Jessore, all kinds of loading and unloading of goods from the ships have been stopped, so more than 450 cargo-laden ships are lying idle in the Bhairab River in Nawapara. As a result, the Nawapara river port has been paralyzed for the second day.
Latest news: The strike of ship workers demanding justice in the murder of seven people on a ship in the Meghna River and ensuring safety on the waterway has finally been called off. Chowdhury Ashiqul Alam, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Boat Federation, confirmed that the strike was suspended at around 9:15 pm on Saturday at the request of the Director General of the Department of Shipping.
