10% fare hike proposed for lighter vessels after fuel price increase

Published : Friday, 24 April, 2026 at 8:40 PM Count : 11

Goods transport costs on inland waterways are likely to rise, as stakeholders have proposed a 10 percent increase in fares for lighter vessels to offset higher expenses following the fuel price hike.

At a meeting with Commodore Md Shafiul Bari, director general of the Department of Shipping, on Wednesday (April 22), stakeholders agreed in principle to raise fares for lighter vessels by 10 percent after the recent diesel price hike.

The meeting was attended by leaders of the Bangladesh Cargo Vessel Owners Association, Coastal Ship Owners’ Association of Bangladesh, and Inland Vessel Owners Association of Chattogram, along with representatives of cargo agents, ships’ local agents, major importing firms, and manufacturing groups.

Shafiq Ahmad, convener of the Bangladesh Water Transport Coordination Cell, which oversees most lighter vessels, today said participants had proposed fare hikes ranging from five to 50 percent.

“After analysing all factors, a 10 percent increase was unanimously agreed upon,” he said.

He added that the Department of Shipping will send the proposal to the ministry for approval. If approved, a circular will be issued within a day or two.

IVOAC leader Parvez Ahmed said vessel owners’ associations usually increase the fares, which always creates disagreements.

“This time, we wanted the fare to be set through a government-supervised process, so we requested the Department of Shipping to convene the meeting,” he said.

However, the director general of the Department of Shipping could not be reached for comments in this regard.

Currently, the base freight rate for transporting imported cargo from Chattogram to different destinations in Dhaka stands at Tk 550 per tonne.

With a 10 percent increase, the base freight rate per tonne will rise to Tk 605.

Around 1400 lighter vessels are engaged in transporting a major portion of imported bulk cargo from the outer anchorage of Chattogram port to over 50 different destinations across the country via inland water routes.

A major volume of commodities like wheat, raw sugar, salt, lentil, edible oil, fertiliser, coal, and industrial raw materials like cement clinker, scrap imported in bulk through Chattogram port are unloaded from mother vessels to the smaller lighter vessels to be transported on inland waterways at a cheaper cost compared to roadways.

FP/MI