Abstract
After first unveiled in China, by March 2020, the wide spreading episode of coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) spread over Europe and the rest of the world. Besides the public health crisis, not only the Chinese economy but also the global economy as well as the supply chain faced a significant slowdown. Port is not apart from this. Chittagong Port is considered the economic nerve of Bangladesh. A significant segment of export-import moved through Chittagong Port. Like the entire globe, the outbreak of coronavirus affects the country’s prime seaport adversely. This study examines the issues concerning port operation. This study has a qualitative approach that depended on data collected from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were collected from field surveys using semi-structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews with government agencies, policymakers, researchers, businessmen, port users and entrepreneurs. Secondary data were sourced from different policy documents, scholarly articles, reports and the internet. This study provides an overview of COVID-19 impacts on the port and shipping activities in Chittagong Port, which include impacts on port of call, warehouse and distribution activities, hinterland connections and port employees. Therefore, this study discussed those issues to date, identify impacts and authority response to address the impacts. Finally, this study put forward strategies for their mitigation.
Highlights
The coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) were unveiled in a Chinese transport hub, Wuhan, on 31 December 2019 (World Health Organization 2020)
This study aims to discuss those issues to date and intends to provide an overview of COVID-19 impacts on the port and shipping activities in Chittagong Port
Almost all of the impacts of COVID-19 in Chittagong Port activities have already been discussed by our informants as well as within the literature review
Summary
The coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) were unveiled in a Chinese transport hub, Wuhan, on 31 December 2019 (World Health Organization 2020). Due to economic disruption generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, global trade is expected to fall by 13 to 33% in the current year forecasted by a report of the World Trade Organisation (Jackson et al 2020) Since this is a unique and novel situation, til to date, only a few works have covered the impact of the port operation sector. The half-yearly report of the IAPH-WPSP COVID-19 impact barometer conducted a survey based on the theme of vessel calls, extra restrictions on vessels, port call procedures, hinterland transport, warehousing and distribution activities and portrelated workers. These six criteria have direct impacts on the development of COVID19 in the port and shipping industry. This study was conducted based on the following four themes—impacts on port of call, hinterland transport, warehousing and distribution activities and port employees
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