Dwaipayan Barua

Chattogram port is gradually recovering from a severe backlog caused by a seven-day employee strike earlier this month and a 48-hour closure during the national election, thanks to increased daily container deliveries.

Chattogram port workers and employees have called another round of indefinite strike from today, adopting a more hardline approach this time as they threatened to halt cargo handling at the outer anchorage, which remained out of the purview of last week’s six-day work abstention.

Operational activities at Chattogram port finally resumed yesterday afternoon after a six-day impasse, as protesting employees postponed their ongoing work abstention until Saturday following assurances from Shipping Adviser M Sakhawat Hussain that steps would be taken to meet their demands.

Chattogram Port has ground to a halt in the last two days as workers and employees went on an indefinite work abstention over the government’s move to lease the key New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) to Dubai-based DP World.

The stalemate in import and export activities through the Chattogram port is set to deepen further as workers called for a 24-hour strike starting at 8:00am today to protest the government’s decision to lease out the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) to UAE-based operator DP World.

Operations at Chattogram port came to a standstill yesterday over the planned handover of the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) to DP World.

Mother ships waiting for 10-20 extra days at outer anchorages for unloading

Port officials said the problem has persisted for nearly a year