Following a dispute that led to a split and saw them operating separately for over three months, two rival organisations of lighter vessel owners reconciled yesterday and announced they would jointly facilitate the transport of imported cargo from Chattogram port's outer anchorage to different parts of the country on inland water routes.

Former Mayor of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) AJM Nasir Uddin, who played a pivotal role in the reconciliation, inaugurated the new initiative at a programme held at a local hotel on Tuesday evening.

Nasir announced that three organisations of the lighter vessel owners would start giving serials and allocating vessels from a single platform from March 23.

The platform will have a new name and comprise of representatives from all stakeholders, he said.

Director General (DG) Commodore Mohammad Maksud Alam was present as chief guest at the programme, where leaders of the three organisations also spoke.

In 2004, three organisations -- the Bangladesh Cargo Vessel Owners Association (BCVOA), the Inland Vessel Owners Association of Chattogram (IVOAC), and the Coastal Ship Owners Association of Bangladesh (COAB) -- jointly formed a platform, named Water Transport Cell (WTC), to operate vessel for the transport of imported cargo through inland waterways.

But a conflict had been brewing among leaders of BCVOA and IVOAC for the past few years. Eventually, on December 19 last year, IVOAC leaders decided to split from the WTC and start operating vessels independently.

The Department of Shipping took several steps to mediate the dispute between the two organisations but to no avail.

Sources said leaders from both organisations sat in series of meetings since February before finally reaching an agreement.

BCVOA leader Parvez Ahmed said the proposed named of the new platform is Bangladesh Water Transport Coordination Cell.