The shipping industry in Bangladesh is beginning to feel the effects of a crisis at Colombo Port, where truck-loading service interruptions have become commonplace. Ships are now experiencing delays of two to three days on average. The Chittagong-Colombo-Chittagong trip takes eight days on average, although it now takes ten to eleven days. This is one of Bangladesh’s busiest shipping routes, as vessels travelling this route can save up to four days on their journey to Europe compared to taking a detour through Singapore port. Large-scale fuel stock outs have slammed Sri Lanka hard. This puts a strain on container lines because loading and unloading are dependent on lorries.
Colombo is South Asia’s primary transshipment hub. Colombo terminals are seeing serious container build ups due to shortage of trucks. “Our vessels are now being delayed at least three days there,” says Captain AS Chowdhury, the Country Head of Sea-consortium, one of the biggest feeder-service providers on the route. And three days’ time lag means they cannot connect with the mother vessels.
