With a sudden strict application of the Bangladesh Flag Vessel Protection Act, all foreign-flagged vessels calling Chittagong Port are subject to delays and disrupted operations when berthing.

The Flag Vessel Protection Act implies that foreign-flagged vessels must apply for and have granted a certificate for imports and exports of containerized goods from Bangladesh ports. 

So far, however, the authorities have maintained a pragmatic – or tolerant – view of the regulation, which has made operations rather seamless.

Apparently, and according to Bangladesh newspaper The Financial Express, the decrease in exports has triggered a stricter interpretation of the law, implying that imports and exports must be certified according to the Act. 

However, several ships have experienced that the waiver certificates are not issued in time or that they are not given sufficient time at berth to carry out cargo operations.

Among the container carriers affected are Singapore-headquartered X-Press Feeders. One of its VSA partners’ vessels has been forced to abandon ports untimely and before it had concluded its operations to load containers. A ship was given 24 hours for 1,228 moves at Chittagong Port, which, according to the carrier, is impossible at the Bangladesh port.

Another vessel of X-Press Feeder had to leave the port and wait at anchorage over 48 hours for the required waiver certificate which caused supply chain disruptions.

”The unstructured and inconsistent way in the issuance of waiver certificates makes it very difficult for feeder operators like us to ensure smooth vessel operations and uphold sailing frequencies to serve the trade,” says X-Press Feeders’ COO, Francis Goh, in a comment.

Monitoring the situation closely

”We are monitoring the situation closely and urge the relevant authorities and trade associations in Bangladesh to do the right thing in the interests of international trade.”

Another of the Singapore-based feeder operator’s ships had an export waiver granted and then revoked shortly thereafter without any logical reason. All in all, X-Press Feeders has had five vessels involved and faced with disruptions so far.

Straits Orient Lines (SOL) has apparently also experienced disruptions in the Bangladesh port.

The issuer of the waiver is Mercantile Marine Department. Sabbir Mahmood, Principal Officer at the MMD, explains to The Financial Express that the problem has deepened ”due to fall in the volume of export cargoes.”

”We need to apply the flag-protection rules seriously when such situations arise,” he says.

No Bangladesh national shipping line is mentioned in the article. However, as HR Lines presents itself on its web site as Bangladesh’s only container shipping line, foreign competitors believe the strict application of the rules will only favor HR Lines, thereby causing unfair competition.