Background report from December 2025, relevant to the continuing dispute over off-dock tariffs.
Private inland container depot owners in Chattogram called off an undeclared strike for one month after receiving assurances from the port authority, bdnews24.com reported on 11 December 2025. The action, set to begin at 6am that Thursday, would have halted handling of export cargo and empty containers.
According to India Seatrade News, depot owners were protesting the continued bar on revising service tariffs, unchanged since 2016. In August 2025 the Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA) had sought increases of 30 to 63 per cent on several charges; port users rejected them, a court suspended the revised tariff, and the shipping ministry ruled that no new charges could be imposed without Tariff Committee approval.
After an afternoon meeting between port and customs officials and BICDA, the association agreed to keep operations running normally, according to Port Secretary Md Omar Faruk. BICDA General Secretary Ruhul Amin Sikder said the group wanted certain cases withdrawn and service charges adjusted. The 19 depots handle all export cargo, most empty containers and 65 categories of imports.
Source
- bdnews24.com: “Private off-dock strike suspended in Chattogram” (11 December 2025)
- India Seatrade News: “19 Chattogram ICDs to halt export cargo, empty container handling from tomorrow” (10 December 2025)
File photo: a straddle carrier moving containers at Chattogram port. Photo: Moheen Reeyad / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This article is a summary prepared by Maritime News BD from the report(s) listed above; it was not independently reported by Maritime News BD.
