Bangladesh 'jam-packed' with cargo as curfew and internet restrictions continue

Bangladesh cargo flows have resumed after the government restored limited internet connections for airport, emergency services, hospitals and port operators last night. The country’s imports and exports took a massive hit after internet connections were cut last Thursday and a curfew enforced on Saturday – although this has been partially lifted to facilitate shopping and business activities – in response to student protests over job quota reforms, The Loadstar reported.

Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association secretary general Ruhul Amin Sikder said depots had some 5,000 teu of laden containers ready for shipment.

“Today we are sending and bringing containers from the port,” he said, but he noted that with the internet outage impeding customs entries, some 8,000 to 10,000 teu of export containers could not be shipped during the chaos.

And even with flows moving again, he noted, only “a few trucks” were turning up with these laden containers.

Chittagong Port Authority spokesperson Omar Faruk said that as soon as they received an internet connection last night, customs procedures restarted, with some 2,500 teu processed by this morning, and expectations of hitting 3,500 tomorrow.

A dozen containerships were waiting at the outer anchorage of the port on July 24.

On the air side, the cargo village at Dhaka Airport had also become jam-packed, with Nasir Ahmed Khan, VP of the Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association, estimating that some 3,000 to 3,500 tonnes of cargo had not moved during the outages.

“More than a week will be needed to clear the backlog,” he said, although it was not clear whether this was based on a return to normal operating hours and functionality.

As things stand, the government has stated that a partial curfew would remain in place indefinitely, as well as restrictions on the internet, in response to the protests that have left nearly 200 people dead, including students.

The curfew will be lifted between the hours of 10am and 5pm, with offices permitted to operate from 11am to 3pm and internet access restricted to offices. All social media channels are blocked.

A customer update from Ligi Logistics, seen by The Loadstar, indicated that such conditions were likely to lead to a very real threat of a “blockage” at Dhaka Airport, with customs documentation hobbled by the reduced internet access.

And, while some garment factories in Dhaka may have re-opened, Ligi warned it was likely many would remain closed until the situation was resolved.