The whole country is in chaos! The port is paralyzed, and cargo transportation is suspended! Maersk Emergency Warning

Recently, protests have erupted in Bangladesh for four weeks, intensifying social unrest. The government has taken multiple emergency measures to try to quell the riots, but the freight logistics system is still severely impacted, and ports and air cargo are in chaos. Maersk has issued a warning that its operations in Bangladesh have come to a halt due to protests and curfew measures, facing challenges such as online system disruptions and manpower shortages.

Recently, the ongoing protests and marches across Bangladesh have entered their fourth week and show no signs of calming down. This student protest, triggered by dissatisfaction with the government's restoration of the "civil service quota system," quickly spread and evolved into a nationwide violent conflict. According to Agence France Presse on July 22, the conflict has resulted in at least 163 deaths, exacerbating social unrest and unrest.

In response to this situation, the Bangladeshi government has taken a number of emergency measures, including the imposition of curfews, the interruption of mobile and Internet services, the closure of schools, and the deployment of troops to calm the escalating unrest. However, these measures seem to have failed to effectively curb the spread of protests and the escalation of violent conflicts.

In this context, Bangladesh's freight logistics system has suffered a serious impact and fallen into chaos. In terms of port transportation, although cargo loading and unloading work is still barely maintained, road closures have resulted in "no boxes to be shipped out of the port area" and the normal flow of goods cannot be carried out. Meanwhile, the port system has been paralyzed due to the impact, and the shortage of personnel has further exacerbated the congestion situation at the port. With more ships arriving one after another, port congestion is expected to continue to worsen, posing unprecedented challenges to customs clearance and cargo delivery.

In addition, air cargo transportation was not spared. Due to the malfunction of the customs system, air cargo transportation has been completely suspended. In addition to the strike actions of customs clearance and freight forwarding personnel, the air transportation industry has become even more difficult and fallen into a predicament.

Maersk Emergency Warning: Operation Blocked

On July 22nd, Maersk updated its official website with warning information regarding the current situation in Bangladesh. Due to the continuous nationwide protests and Internet interruption, the government implemented a curfew, which led to the continued stagnation of Maersk's operations in Bangladesh.

The implementation of curfew not only restricts people's movements, but also causes disruptions to the online systems and platforms of all stakeholders in the supply chain. In particular, the customs system could not operate normally. Before the Internet system was restored, air cargo transportation had been completely stopped.

At the same time, the manpower of the port is extremely limited, and the online system of the port is still in a paralyzed state, unable to carry out new online processing or approval updates. The import manifest (IGM) can only be manually submitted by the team to the port authority, but due to insufficient staffing, the situation of approval or rejection is very unstable.

In addition, due to strict curfews implemented in various regions, the availability of trucks and manpower has been severely affected, and container freight stations (CFS) are unable to operate at full capacity. Despite facing these daunting challenges, the Maersk team continues to work tirelessly to ensure that goods can continue to be transported, while also working closely with partners and authorities to develop special procedures to ensure smooth transportation of goods. Considering available resources and security conditions, the Maersk team will continue to monitor the situation and regularly monitor the unloading status of CFS.