Ctg port extends cut-off time for loading RMG containers

The Chattogram port authority has extended the deadline for loading containers with garments into ships by 24 hours to ensure all the export-bound products are shipped out, after a meeting with a BGMEA team.

Exporters and carriers can bring in ready made garments to the port yard 24 hours before the estimated departure time of the intended ship, against the previous requirement of completing loading activities 48 hours before the departure.

In special occasions, garments exporters can load their goods six hours prior to the departure of ships, a notification issued by the port authority read.

The decision will be effective from 1 October to 29 February.

Containers with export-bound products are taken to the Chattogram inland container depot from container depots all over the country for shipping them abroad. The containers from the Chattogram depot then have to be loaded into ships at the port yard. A time is specified to ensure any shipment is not left out by a departing ship and that ships can depart on their intended schedule. The new relaxation of the cut-off time further reduces the risks of containers being left out.

According to BGMEA Vice President Rakibul Alam Chowdhury, many a time delays occur in taking product-laden containers to the Chattogram inland depot. Shortage of available containers and other issues cause the delays that sometimes ultimately results in the containers not being loaded into ships at all. Extension of the cut-off time has erased those chances, he noted.