Liberian vessel leaves Ctg port after paying Tk72 lakh fine
Ship’s agent says the delay caused them $40,000 loss
After being detained at Chattogram port for two days, the Liberia-flagged ship X-press Lhotse has left after paying a fine of Tk72 lakh.
The vessel headed for Colombo port with 1,450 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) containers of export goods on Thursday (16 May) at midnight.
The ship was scheduled for departure on Wednesday. However, it was barred from leaving as it failed to pay Tk7,250,750 in fines imposed by the Mercantile Marine Office for not complying with rules at various times.
The Marine Office said X-press Lhotse earlier transported goods from Chattogram port without obtaining a waiver certificate in violation of the Bangladesh Flag Vessels, (Protection of Interests) Act. Its shipping agent, Sea Consortium, was also fined several times in this regard.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Captain AS Chowdhury, the managing director of Sea Consortium, said the two-day delay has caused them a loss of $40,000 in charter hire fees.
The ship was scheduled to deliver goods to Europe and America-bound mother vessels at Colombo Port on 19 May, he said. However, there is now concern about missing the mother vessel.
"Penalising foreign flag vessels under the pretext of violating waiver certificates and detaining them is unjust. Misusing the law to favour one party jeopardises the operations of foreign flag vessels," he added.
According to the Bangladesh Flag Vessels (Protection of Interests) Act 2019, 50% of the goods transported by ships must be carried on domestic vessels.
However, if there is a shortage of space on local vessels, foreign shipping agents must obtain mandatory clearance to transport the remaining goods.
Captain Sabbir Mahmud, principal officer of the Mercantile Marine Office, said the shipping agent had been cautioned several times before for irregularities. Failure to pay the fine and irregularities led to the detention of the ship this time.
"Permission to leave the port was granted after paying the fine," he added.
According to container shipping line data, nearly 90 feeder vessels operate from Chattogram port to transshipment ports such as Colombo, Singapore, Port Klang, and Tanjung Pelepas. Among them, there are eight domestic vessels, while the rest are foreign flag vessels.
