The paper studies the feasibility of the ment of containerisation in F3angladesh under the socio economic conditions .The subject is very
for developing countries .
develop- existing topical
It is in the strong interest of Bangladesh that she should keep pace by adapting herself to the new techno
logy of containerisation . The effects of not joining the technological progress could be detrimental for the national economy as well as for the port and shipping
industry .
The paper attempts to study the development of complete system of containerisation in Banglade?sh with emphasis on the internal distribution system .
The paper also attempts to give a fair idea of what Bangladesih has in terms of infrastructure , equip ment and institutional framework presently and what would be required for the development of a complete system of containerisation .
Most of the containerisable cargo originates or is destined for the Dhaka area . There are only very limited prospects for containerisation outside the Dhaka Chittagong* jrorridor .
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The paper also attempts to identify the need for a Rail based internal distribution system with an ICD at Dhaka as a minimum requirement for workability . The design and operational layout of the ICD is outside the scope of this paper .
A phased development plan seems to be appropriate-- he?re and such a plan has been proposed . Elstimates of capital and operating costs of. the Rail based container service and the ICD are also given .
It is stressed in the paper that it is indispen sable for Banngladesh to extend , modernise and optimise her port facilities and operational capabi 1 itie?s for con tainer traffic . Harmonisation of different plans for containerisation has to be made .
PREFACE
As part af the curriculum , students at thes World Maritime University (WMU) are expected to undertake a stu- dy project and produce a thesis on. a maritime field in partial fulfilment of the re?quirements for obtaining the Masters degree
The subject chosen for the thejsis is "Containerisa tion in Bangladesh" . My- interest on the? subject was deve loped during the? course of studies in the first year at the WMU and visits to the ports of Bremen and Bre?mer Haven during the field trip to Ge?rmany in October 1987 and the port of Halifax during "On the Job Training" in Canada in March '88 .
hJone of the students from Bangladc-?sh at the WMU has undertaken a study project for his thesis on containeris - at ion so fair . f3e?sid£?s , some? reference maiterial on this subject is reaadily available .1 be?ing from the Navy had little knowledge of commercial shipping before coming to the WMU . The subject chosen has given me a good exposure to mamy aspects of commercial shipping . The subject is also very topical for developing countries .
This thesis project is int6?nded for those readers , who while possessing a general knowledge? about shipping , wish to know more , particularly about prospects and fea sibility of containerised shipping , in Bangladesh.
This thesis project includes a number of quotations and many references , but the main source for this study has been the "Rail Container Transport Study - Bangladesh, Draft Final Report -- Prepared for Asian Development Bank acting as executive agency for UNDP -- September 'S7" CRCTSl and "Transport of Containers in Bangladesh ~ Feasi bility Study and Detailed Engineering - Phase I Draft Report -Prepared for the World Bank on behalf of the UNDP - December '85" . The statistical data , maps and figures used in this study project are mostly from RCTS .
This being said I- am now faced with the tai.sk of thawiking the organisations and individuals , without whose* help , guidance and understanding this study project would have been dif ficu11 to comp1ete .
.1 shall name s Dr H L Beth , visiting profesor at the WMU who helped me formulate the outline <mnd framework and gave me vali.iable advice for my thesis project ; Dr H i-laralaimbides , lecturer a^t the WMU , my siuptsrvisor ; and not forgetting to mention the visiting professors and the resident staff of the WMU and the WMU librarian Mr Richard Poisson who helped me by providing valuable material and guidance during the preparation of my thesis project ; Kazi Mahbubul Huq , Director , Bangladesh Consultants Limited , who was very kind to allow me to make copies of the abpve named project reports for myself after having failed to*, obtain.. _ them from the Bangladesh Ministry of Ports Shipping and IWT 5 Mr Omar Hadi , Chief of Planning and Mr Anwar Hossain , Deputy Chief of Planning at the Ministry of Ports Shipping and .IWT both of whom briefed me
on shipping and containerisation in Bangladesh and supp lied me with some material and identified for me other sources for collecting data and material ; Mr Yar Ahmed , Traffic Officer , Incha\rge of the^ Interim I CD at Kamalapur Dhaka who gave me a briefing and showed me around the fa\cility this January .
In the end I wish to mention my wife , Mohua , who has shown a great deal of patience and understanding during her stay with me in Malmo aind during the prepara tion of the thesis project when on many occasions she was deprived of my company when I was burning the; midnight oil writing my thesis or typing it on the Word Processor at the WMU . She gave me a lot of encouragement and never complairied . She has a lot of contribution in the comp
letion of this thesis project .
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