Bangladesh – COVID-19 - Potential Import Congestion

We would like to give you an update on the current situation in Bangladesh.

Due to the lockdown imposed by the Government of Bangladesh to fight the coronavirus outbreak, the slowdown in the clearance of imports has resulted in terminals & CFS’ becoming congested. Congestion is resulting in reduced space to discharge imports and notably reduced availability of reefer plugs.

We are making all efforts to ensure containers discharge at the designated ports. However, if for any reason we are not able to discharge the cargo at the designated port we may need to suspend the Carriage of Goods by transshipping in a nearby port (Bill of Lading clause 18 Terms and Conditions ref). There the goods would be stored ashore or afloat and we will endeavor to forward them as soon as reasonably possible. Hapag-Lloyd shall be entitled to charge such storage costs, and additional freight.

We will make every effort to minimize the disruption of supply chains in these difficult times and have put a contingency plan to cater to such a situation. The purpose of this advisory is to keep customers informed of the situation and how we would handle your shipments, in case we come to that stage.

This notice is written without prejudice to the terms and conditions contained in the relevant underlying contracts of carriage as evidenced by Hapag-Lloyd AG’s standard Bill of Lading and/or Sea Waybill and the Hapag-Lloyd Tariff applicable thereto and/or any other applicable agreement governing the carriage of the subject cargo, as the case may be, all of which said terms and conditions continue to remain in full force and effect without any modification or waiver.