National traffic blockade for 5 days! Serious port congestion! More than 40,000 containers stranded at the port! More than 10 container ships waiting to berth!

Starting on July 19, the Bangladesh government cut off the internet and imposed a curfew to control student protests, halting cargo movement at Bangladesh ports for five days. Highways were blocked, restricting the movement of freight trucks in and out of the port, while factories were forced to shut down operations as part of the government-imposed security measures.

On Tuesday evening (July 23), the government resumed only limited internet connectivity in offices, ports and emergency services, and began shipping outbound containers and shipping boxes from the port. Customs officials are also speeding up the clearance of goods. The curfew was also lifted on Wednesday for five hours a day, which helped open private and public offices and factories.

On July 24, Maersk issued an update warning that the Chittagong port and customs systems are up and running, although they are running slowly due to network problems. The port is severely congested, and the current waiting time for ships is 4-5 days. In addition, manpower is still limited, which affects the movement of containers in the port.

Given the situation, container freight stations (CFS) are now operating with limited capacity. Although unloading and boxing activities have resumed, the lack of internet in these areas has led to reduced productivity.

In addition, air cargo operations are also slowly resuming as the curfew is gradually relaxed.