Air and ocean freight, in and out of Bangladesh, have been heavily disrupted in the past few days, due to a nationwide blackout of internet following violent protests in the country.
Students and police have been involved in violent clashes during the past ten days, which have resulted in numerous fatalities and forced the Bangladesh government to take drastic action.
Internet connections were cut off during the course of last week and a curfew was imposed on Saturday. Although limited internet has now been restored, the flow of air and ocean traffic has already been significantly impacted and backlogs have been building.
Several containerships have been queued outside the main port of Chittagong as operations and customs procedures stopped due to the loss of internet. Meanwhile, Dhaka airport is understood to be overflowing with freight and up to 3,500 tonnes of air freight has backed up in the last few days.
Inevitably, delays can be expected as ports and airports deal with the backlogs, hopefully in the next 2/3 weeks. Export production may also slow as most factories closed during the blackout and it is understood that some have not re-opened yet.
