The government has initiated a move to construct a bay container terminal with the Indian credit to enhance the capacity of Chittagong Port which will reduce congestion at the port, officials said.
He said another plan was there to construct a terminal at the proposed Payra Deep Sea Port, modernise Mongla Port, and construct Dry Dock in Chittagong.
Talking to the news agency, an official at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) said such projects were taken to develop the country’s ports under a $4.5 billion fresh third Line of Credit (LoC) from India to be given against 17 projects selected so far.
Another official at the Ministry of Shipping said that the coastal area adjacent to Halishahar, Chittagong was primarily identified for the establishment of the Bay Container Terminal.
The official said an 11km char had emerged about some 800 metres off the coast. It was not visible before 1990 and a channel was also created there where the sea depth in some areas is up to 10 metres. The outer anchorage of the Chittagong Port is also near the area where sea depth is up to 12 to 13 metres.
The shipping ministry official said they had a target to launch the Bay Container Terminal by 2021 upon completion of the first phase of its work.
A German company will conduct a feasibility study to construct the Bay Container Terminal, while the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) is likely to sign an MoU with the German company soon.
According to CPA, now ships can anchor at the Chittagong Port at the highest depth of 9.5 metres. Once the Bay Container Terminal is constructed, ships with a length of over 190 metres will be able to anchor at the terminal at highest 12 metres of depth.
The distance of Chittagong Port from the outer anchorage is now 15km and this distance will come down to only 1km once the terminal is set up.
Besides, 35 ships will be able to anchor simultaneously from No 1 jetty to NCT while 19 ships can anchor currently.
Another ERD official said India was interested to provide around $350 million under its third LoC to construct a multipurpose terminal at the proposed Payra Deep Sea Port.
Of the committed $5 billion fresh loan, $4.5 billion will be given for various development projects, including economic zones, ports and road infrastructures, and river restoration. The remaining $500m will be made available for defence cooperation and procurement.
Earlier this month, India announced a $5 billion line of credit to Bangladesh during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to New Delhi.[/vc_column_text]
