Chattogram port has announced to start construction of Bay-terminal next year.
All preparations have been made including land acquisition and design for the construction of Bay-terminal. The work on the project started in March 2023 and will be completed in 2025. The terminal will be operational in 2026.
Port Chairman Rear Admiral M Shahjahan said these things in a discussion meeting organized at Shaheed Md Fazlur Rahman Munshi Auditorium with stakeholders, port users and public representatives on the master plan prepared by the consultant M/s Kunhwa JV for the construction of Bay-terminal on Wednesday.
Chattogram City Corporation, WASA, CDA, Water Development Board, BIWTC, BGMEA, BKMEA, shipping agents and business representatives were present.
Last year, the country's premier seaport handled 30 lakh TEUS containers. The bay-terminal will have a capacity of around 50 lakh TEUS. The initial cost of the project has been estimated at 21 thousand crore rupees.
Port Chairman said, Chattogram Port Authority will build a multipurpose terminal in Bay-terminal project. The terminal will have six jetties. However, the Bay-terminal will have a total of 13 jetties. The terminal will have multimodal connectivity facilities. On the eastern side of the project is the Port Access Road and Railway. A multipurpose terminal will be constructed by the Chattogram Port Authority in the Bay-terminal project. He said that the remaining two terminals will be allocated to foreign companies through Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
The Chattogram District Administration conveyed 68 acres of land to the Chattogram Port Authority in October last year for the project. Tk 400 crores have been given to the district administration for land acquisition. Kunhwa Engineering & Consulting Company Limited-DY Engineering Company is jointly working for Bay-terminal Project Planning and Detailed Engineering Design, Drawing and Estimation of Multipurpose Terminal under Chattogram Port. The South Korean joint venture will oversee the construction of the Bay-terminal along with the formulation of the project's master plan.
M Shahjahan said that there is no bend and navigability in the bay-terminal channel. Therefore, it will be possible to berth ships with a maximum capacity of 6,000 TEUs with a draft of 10-12 meters.
A 1225 meter long container terminal, an 830 meter long container terminal and a 1500 meter long multipurpose terminal will be constructed at the Bay-terminal. The total length of these three terminals is 3.55 km.
Port official said that at present, ships with a maximum draft of 9.5 meters and a maximum length of 190 meters can enter the port's jetties in an average of four hours during high tide. However, the Bay-terminal can accommodate ships of 200 meters length and 10 meters draft day and night.
