Bangladesh delegation visits Kolkata Port to explore transhipment of Exim cargo

Kolkata: A 13-member delegation from Bangladesh have arrived on a four-day visit to Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP), Kolkata from July 9 to July 12 to assess the possibilities of transhipment of Exim cargo of Bangladesh through Indian ports located on the East Coast.

The delegation led by the joint secretary, Ministry of Shipping, Bangladesh S M Mostafa Kamal comprised representatives from other key ministries, private stakeholders and ports of Bangladesh.

The port authorities shared that the delegation held a meeting with the Kolkata Port chairman Rathendra Raman, among other key port officials.

The focal point of the discussion was to highlight the various trade facility advantages which the exporters from Bangladesh are likely to gain upon transhipment of the export bound cargo to third countries by handling them through SMP, Kolkata.

The delegation was given an introduction to Kolkata Dock System (KDS) and Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) by stating the current infrastructure and scope for handling containerised cargo shipped from Bangladesh for third country export.

“Under the current market scenario, a cost comparative analysis was drawn to establish the fact that shipment of export cargo from Chittagong (Bangladesh) to SMP, Kolkata will be economical for further shipping to other third countries instead of shipment through transshipment ports like Colombo.

A two-way plying of the vessels will reduce the overall cost of transportation enabling a win-win trade proposition for both the nations,” the port statement read.

Kolkata Port officials said the presence of established IBP protocol route covering all the major ports of call of Bangladesh like Mongla, Narayanganj, Ashugunj port with SMP, Kolkata will help to facilitate the quantum of export from Bangladesh especially with the introduction to the greater number of barges carrying loaded fly-ash from India which might have the potential to return along with the laden containers from Bangladesh.

The head of Bangladeshi delegation assured that on their return to Bangladesh a meeting will be conducted along with the stakeholders with the data, analysis and comparison they obtained from their visit to SMP, Kolkata.

The committee will submit a report to the Ministry of Shipping, Bangladesh and the report will be

communicated to India by diplomatic channel.