by Lloyd's List

8 August (Lloyd's List) - PORT congestion in Bangladesh caused by the civil unrest continues, with the situation remaining volatile, despite the government lifting its curfew.

The latest curfew, which began on Sunday, was lifted on Tuesday and businesses are allowed to operate during normal hours, with internet and mobile connectivity restored across the country, Maersk said in an advisory.

The country’s largest port, Chittagong, is operational but there are few officials on site so the container movements are slow, according to Maersk.

“This situation remains very fluid and constantly evolving,” the shipping giant said.

The port of Chittagong remains operational but congestion continues and some receivers have cancelled their orders to the port owing to the civil unrest, YQN, a Chinese freight service provider, told Lloyd’s List.

In addition to the ports, the riots have also plagued rail transport, causing difficulties in moving goods out of the ports, YQN said.

Therefore, some container line companies had temporarily ceased taking orders for shipments to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, YQN said.

As the protests disrupted port operations at Chittagong, berthing delays remained chronic, with some ships waiting up to seven days, according to a weekly note from Linerlytica.

The protests, which originated in early July over a controversial government job quota system, later escalated into nationwide unrest.

The Bangladeshi government imposed multiple curfews and temporarily suspended broadband connectivity from about July 20 onwards, but it has gradually restored the status quo in the following days.

The prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country on Monday. The army chief said an interim government would be formed.