B’desh garment exporters worry over political turmoil in Lanka

Readymade garment (RMG) exporters in Bangladesh are concerned over the ongoing political turmoil in Sri Lanka, as around 40 percent of the country’s apparel shipments use Colombo port as the key transshipment hub to reach final destinations, said a report by the Fiber2Fashion yesterday.

The process of monitoring and controlling the movement of vessels from one place to another remains suspended at the port.

More than 10 feeder vessels carrying export goods either remained stuck or are on the way to Colombo, a Bangladesh English-language daily reported quoting unnamed shipping executives.

The vessels operating between Chittagong and Colombo faced delays when the fuel crisis began in the island country a few months back. The length of a voyage on the Chittagong-Colombo-Chittagong route increased to 10-11 days instead of the normal eight days.

Curfew is in force now across Sri Lanka after mobs burned down homes belonging to the ruling Rajapaksa family members amid mounting anger following an acute economic crisis.

Container lines are under tremendous pressure due to large-scale fuel shortage in Sri Lanka, Bangla media reports said.