Around 750,000 tons of goods have been stuck in 35 large ships at the outer anchorage of Chittagong port due to the strike of the shipping workers.

Another 950,000 tons of goods were stuck in 2,593 small ships (lighter ships) on the way to be released from the big ships.

These ships carry everything from industrial raw materials to daily commodities. Traders are worried about goods getting stuck on ships. The strike started last Saturday at 12:01 am. Due to the strike, the transportation of imported goods by river has been completely stopped.

Traders say compensation in dollars has to be paid as large ships sit idle amid the strike. And for small ships compensation should be paid in Rs. If the problem is not resolved quickly, it will have far-reaching effects on the business.

Chittagong Chamber President Mahbubul Alam told Prothom Alo today that goods bought in dollars are mostly transported by river. From industrial raw materials to consumer goods are taken to factories by river. Stopping the movement of goods by river means taking a stab at the supply chain. To be rescued from this hostage. Because the compensation that will come due to the vessel sitting idle, the consumer has to pay at the end of the day.

The Nauyan Sramik Sangam Parishad has called for an indefinite strike across the country from 12:00 p.m. last Saturday, demanding 10 points, including fixing the minimum wage at Tk 20,000. The council announced this program on November 15. Bangladesh Nauyan Sramik Federation has expressed solidarity with this program.

Vice President of Bangladesh Lighter Workers Union. Nabi Alam told Prothom Alo that the transportation of goods by river has been stopped since the start of the strike. Ship workers do not want to join work until their demands are met.

Chittagong is the main center of goods transportation by river. Basically, the big ships carrying imported goods are kept outside the harbor and transferred to lighter ships.

According to the data of the port, during the strike, 750,000 tons of goods were waiting to be unloaded in 35 ships at the outer anchorage of the port. Every day four or five ships are bringing lakhs of tons of goods. As a result, the amount of stranded products is increasing.

Apart from big ships, imported goods are stuck in small ships all over the country. Goods are unloaded from large ships and taken at 41 ports of the country. On Monday, 950,000 tons of goods were stuck in 2,593 ships at these 41 ghats. This information came from the Water Transport Cell, which operates lighter vessels.

Mahbub Rashid, executive director of the cell, told Prothom Alo that wheat, pulses, sugar, soybean seeds, clinker, scrap, fertilizers are among the products stuck in the lighter ships.

It is not yet known when the strike will end. However, it is said that the government is in talks with the agitating workers’ representatives.