Highlights:
- Operators seek vessel allocation review, not rate hikes
- Propose contractual changes if workload remains low
- Fazlisons handles 60.7% of indicative cargo volume
- Cargo shortfall leaves Tk8.61cr in fixed costs unrecovered for the operator
- Tk25,000 welfare payment fails to offset income losses, operators say
Around 5,000 workers at Chattogram Port’s General Cargo Berth (GCB) are facing sharp income losses as container traffic allocated to six private berth operators has remained about 40% below indicative tender volumes, the operators said.
They have sought an urgent review of cargo allocation, saying the prolonged decline in workload has left many workers idle while operators continue to bear fixed costs for wages, equipment and maintenance.
The six operators are FQ Khan and Brothers at Jetty 6, Fazlisons at Jetty 9, Bashir Ahmed and Company at Jetty 10, A & J Traders at Jetty 11, Everest Port Services at Jetty 12 and MH Chowdhury at Jetty 13.
In separate letters to the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) on 14 September, the operators said actual container allocation remained substantially below the indicative volumes used to assess their five-year contracts, making operations financially difficult to sustain.
“Only 800 workers are permanent in GCB berths. More than 5,000 workers are productivity-based. Here, no vessel means no work and no pay,” Taslim Uddin Selim, general secretary of Chattogram Dock Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, told The Business Standard.
“As a result, most of the workers remain idle when there is no vessel to handle at the berths. It becomes very difficult for them to earn bread and butter for their families when the number of vessels falls,” he said.
Fazle Ekram Chowdhury, managing director of Fazlisons and president of the Bangladesh Berth Operator Association, said the decline in vessel allocation had directly affected workers whose earnings depend on port operations.
“Almost half of the people remain idle when the number of ships falls. Their income has fallen completely,” he told TBS.
He said operators continued to retain some workers and pay minimum wages even when there was insufficient work.
Tk25,000 welfare payment
Fazle Ekram questioned whether the Tk25,000 welfare payment provided to registered port workers could compensate for income losses caused by reduced workload.
He said workers could have earned that amount in a month or two if vessel handling had remained at normal levels, while the welfare payment is made only once a year.
“If a worker’s duty had increased, they could have earned Tk25,000 more in a month or two months. Giving Tk25,000 once a year cannot compensate for that loss,” he said.
He also warned that continued pressure on workers could lead to dissatisfaction.
“If the port authority thinks Tk25,000 can suppress workers’ dissatisfaction, that would be a wrong expectation. If the situation explodes, it will not remain within my control,” he said.
40% gap in cargo allocation
The operators said their financial commitments were based on the indicative container volumes included in the tender documents.
Fazlisons said it handled 437,596 boxes between October 2022 and August 2026 against an indicative benchmark of 721,356 boxes for the same period, leaving a shortfall of 283,760 boxes.
The operator handled 60.7% of the indicative volume and estimated that the shortfall had left around Tk8.61 crore in fixed operational costs unrecovered.
Fazlisons was awarded the contract in September 2022 after quoting Tk76.91 crore. The agreement for operating Lot 2, Berth 9 at GCB was signed on 25 September that year.
The tender estimated a five-year volume of 920,875 boxes, or around 15,348 boxes a month, according to the company.
Fazlisons said it did not consider the tender volume a guaranteed minimum, but argued that the projection was a key basis for determining manpower, equipment, investment and pricing when it submitted its bid.
The company currently incurs around Tk46.36 lakh in fixed monthly expenses for manpower, equipment, maintenance, insurance and other operational costs, it said.
NCT, CCT handle more containers
The operators have also questioned the distribution of container vessels among GCB, New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) and Chattogram Container Terminal (CCT).
They cited July 2026 data showing NCT handled 126,722 boxes and CCT 46,029, while Fazlisons handled 7,963 boxes at its GCB berth.
Fazlisons acknowledged that the contractual scopes of the three terminals are different, but said the disparity warrants a transparent review of vessel and cargo allocation.
The company referred to a CPA board decision of 28 March 2023 that called for reasonable allocation of vessels among CCT, NCT and GCB if the number of container vessels calling at Chattogram Port was insufficient.
The operators said their association had repeatedly raised the issue with the CPA through representations submitted in February 2023, February and December 2024, December 2025 and January 2026.
Operators seek review, not rate hike
The operators said they would prefer increased vessel and cargo allocation over a higher handling rate.
“If sufficient container vessels can reasonably and safely be allocated to GCB, we would much prefer to earn our revenue by performing the work rather than seeking any financial adjustment,” Fazle Ekram said.
He claimed turnaround times at NCT, CCT and GCB were broadly comparable and alleged that GCB had not received what operators consider a reasonable share of container traffic.
The operators have asked the CPA to provide or jointly review vessel-wise and operator-wise allocation data and sought a contractual review under the General Conditions of Contract and relevant provisions of the Public Procurement Act and Rules.
They said they were not seeking automatic compensation or a rate increase because of lower traffic, instead proposing measures including contractual variation, adjustment of operational obligations, or rationalisation of fixed manpower and equipment requirements if the CPA cannot ensure a reasonable workload.
Fazlisons proposed a review involving the CPA’s traffic, terminal, procurement, finance and legal departments and said it was ready to submit records of operational costs, manpower, equipment, insurance and bank liabilities.
Fazle Ekram also said local operators had proposed an investment plan worth around Tk700 crore to improve GCB facilities but had received no response from the CPA or the Ministry of Shipping.
He alleged that foreign companies were receiving faster responses from the authorities while local investors were being ignored.
The operators have urged the CPA to take an early decision, saying the continued decline in workload is putting their businesses and thousands of workers’ livelihoods under pressure.
No response from CPA
The Business Standard contacted CPA Director (Traffic) Golam Md Sarwarul Islam by phone for comments, but he did not answer.
The CPA secretary was later contacted and sent specific questions on the issues raised by the berth operators. Although he assured TBS that he would respond, he neither provided answers nor returned the call.
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