Most of the vessels are now sailing from Chattogram Port jetties half loaded, mainly with empty containers, due to a dearth of export cargo in the lockdown period amid COVID-19 pandemic, according to officials.
Data shows that the port shipped only 1,104 containers on Sunday, of which 423 were empty.
The officials said a vessel of Yang Ming Line left the port on April 11 with 980 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers on board, of which only 200 containers were loaded with goods.
During normalcy, the vessel carries 1,200-1,400 TEUs of outbound containers, mostly goods-laden.
"The figures will drop further with no empty (container) generation from import delivery," said a representative of a mainline carrier.
At present, almost no export cargo is generated, as factories have long been shut, he also said.
On the other hand, shippers are taking delivery of very few import cargo. So, the number of empty container generation has also dropped drastically, he added.
On Sunday, the port received only 301 TEUs of laden containers and 422 TEUs of empty containers from the inland container depots (ICDs), which handle the majority of outbound boxes.
Last week, a vessel of CMA CGM sailed from the port with at best 150 TEUs of laden containers and same volume of empty containers against its capacity of 1,500 TEUs.
A representative of the carrier in Dhaka told the FE that on an average monthly 55,000 TEUs and daily 2,000 TEUs of goods laden containers are sent through the port during normalcy.
But during the ongoing lockdown period, only around 500 TEUs of laden containers are shipped through the port per day.
"A minimal volume of export containers is moving now," he noted.
According to officials, a vessel namely MAX KING sailed from Chattogram Port for Singapore on Sunday with 261 TEUs of laden and 368 TEUs of empty containers against its carrying capacity of 1,700 TEUs.
On Saturday, a vessel - CAPE ORIENT - with a capacity of 2,190 TEUs left the port jetty with 108 TEUs of laden and 903 TEUs of empty containers on board.
Another vessel - LUCKY MERRY - sailed from the port on Friday towards Singapore with 305 TEUs of laden and 765 TEUs of empty containers against its carrying capacity of 1,577 TEUs.
Usually, a Singapore-bound vessel carries 50-60 per cent laden containers, while a Colombo-bound vessel carries almost 100 per cent laden containers.
Representative of another mainline carrier told the FE that carrying empty containers causes significant financial loss of a vessel charterer.
The freight rate of an empty container is almost 40 to 50 per cent lower than a laden container.
"The flow of poor number of laden containers shows a gloomy export scenario of the country," he added.
Ready-made garments (RMG), the country's top export earning sector, has recently faced a severe blow with cancellation or suspension of work orders worth US$3.17 billion following the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
Almost all the manufacturing units in the country have been closed since late March.
According to available data, export earnings declined by 6.24 per cent during July-March period of this fiscal year (FY), 2019-20, compared to the same period of previous FY.
Export earnings fell by 18.29 per cent in March alone compared to the corresponding month of last FY.
