Dr. Sham Choughule has passed out from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade New Delhi with MBA degree in “International Business” He is also “Master of Foreign Trade” of Pondicherry University. He got a fellowship of Narottam Morarajee Institute of Shipping.

He has obtained Ph. D of Mumbai University in Port Management. His topic was “The Impact of Seaports on India's Foreign Trade with Special Reference to JNPT and Mumbai Ports."

He is an industry-recognized professional person in maritime trade and transport sector of India. He will write regular articles on current issues in port and shipping industry for Daily Shipping Times.

 

 

India will soon have access to Bangladeshi ports for movements of its cargo ships to and from India. 

The first trial-run will take place this January 20. Container cargo is likely to operate in the trail run either through Chittagong Port or Mongla Port to the Indian State of Tripura through the Agartala and Akhaura river routes. In this regard, Dr Sham Choughule has attended India-Bangladesh Stakeholder's Meet in Assam and taken this review of the new sea transportation system between two countries.  

Background 

There was Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade" (PIWTT) for inland waterways. The new MOU was signed on 6th June 2015 providing for Bangladesh to allow Chittagong and Mongla Ports for movement of goods to and from India.  Further, India and Bangladesh signed three agreements on 25 October 2018 for allowing India to use the Mongla and Chattogram Ports as transit points to access India’s North-Eastern States for trade. A standard operating procedure was also signed in this regard on 5 October, 2019 follows by India-Bangladesh takeholder’s Meet.

Agreed Routes – Both countries are decided seven routes for the movement of goods and passenger vessels between the two countries. Four of the routes suggested are Chittagong Port or Mongla Port to Agartala via Akhaura; Chittagong or Mongla Port to Dawki via Tamabil; Chittagong or Mongla Port to Sutarkandi via Sheola; and Chittagong or Mongla to Bibekbazar via Simantapur.

SOP for Cargo Traffic – Here the ports are located in landlocked states of North East of India and Chittagong and Mongla Port are situated in Bangladesh. These two ports will be "Gateway Ports" for Indian States. Therefore, to smooth container movement from the seaports of one Country and small landing jetties of another Country become a complicated transaction. To overcome this problem, both countries are setting up Standard Operating Procedure.     

An SOP will be framed to describe documentation, procedure (Customs bond to and inspection) time limits Customs transit formalities, Port and other facilities. 

Transit fees and other Administrative, the operational fee for movement of goods. This will be a similar procedure like ICD Container movement from Gateway ports in India.

Also, the Bangladesh customs computer system, advance filing and processing of declarations(SMTP), electronic lock and seal modalities, the possibility of sharing tracking information, and entry of Bangladesh trucks into India—and the use of car press system at all Land Customs Stations agreed in the SOP on Chattogram and Mongla Ports.

The Chattogram Port

The Chattogram port handles 90% of its country’s cargo and sometimes facing the problem of congestions.  Currently, Bangladesh’s prime seaport has a 50,000-TEU storage capacity, including the yard at Pangaon Inland Container Terminal. This port handled a total of 3.08 million TEUs of containers in 2019 with an annual growth of 6.34 %. However, the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) will build a one million-square-meter (1.19 million-square-yard) mega-container yard, which will substantially increase storage capacity, lessening port yard congestion. 

The new facility, to be called Bay Container Yard (BCY), will add space for 550,000 TEUs, increasing Chittagong port’s storage capacity to 600,000 TEUs — a more than tenfold increase in yard storage capacity.

Mongla Ports 

The Port of Mongla is the second busiest riverine seaport of Bangladesh. It is located in Bagerhat District in the Southwestern part of the Country; and lies 62 kilometres North of the Bay of Bengal coastline. Mongla is one of the Major Ports of the Bengal delta.

Coastal Shipping

The under-construction Matarbari deep-sea port, Bangladesh, and Dhamra Port in the Indian State of Odisha will be declared as "Port of call," - an intermediate stop for a ship on a scheduled journey for cargo transportation or taking on supplies or fuel. Bangladesh is also planning

To start cargo ship up to Chennai VO Chidambarnar Port or Vishakhapatnam "Under Coastal Shipping Agreement”

Dredging problem – There is 54 rivers are between the two countries. The Bangladesh side intends to reiterate that India may share the maximum cost incurred for river route dredging.  This will allow Bangladeshi captains and crew to use the Indian ports for 72 hours, according to officials of the Ministry of Shipping. 

Import-Export

India’s exports to Bangladesh for the financial year 2018-19 stood at USD 9.21 bn showing a growth of almost 7.0% and imports from Bangladesh for the same period stood at USD 1.04 bn. Opening of two ports of Bangladesh will help to Indian exports. Bangladesh expects that such connectivity between the countries will open up greater economic opportunities, strengthen infrastructure and boost business. 

Dr Sham Choughule

shamc2001@yahoo.co.in