The modern Newmooring Container Terminal (NCT) of Chattogram Port, 14 Key Gantry Cranes will be used for loading and unloading goods simultaneously. These devices are being used for fast loading and unloading of goods in all the seaports of the world. 19 gantry cranes were used for loading and unloading goods at the port's NCT; Last May, 2 gantry cranes were used for loading and unloading of goods.
Two more gantry cranes arrived last Monday at Chattogram Port and joined the port fleet. 14 gantry cranes will be used for loading and unloading goods at 5 jetties of NCT from July. Chattogram Port Chairman Rear Admiral M Shahjahan said if 14 gantry cranes were added to the five jetties of the NCT, an additional 20 per cent loading and unloading of goods would be possible. At the same time, due to the speed of loading and unloading of goods, it will be possible to unload a container ship of imported goods at this terminal within 48 hours and re-load the exported goods.
Large container vessels are loaded at the Newmooring Container Terminal (NCT) at Chattogram Port due to the high water depth near the jetty and the availability of key gantry cranes. Container ships that do not have their own cranes are only loaded and unloaded with gantry cranes.
The NCT terminal has a total of five jetties with a total length of 800.5 meters. One of these jetties is allocated for loading and unloading of goods at the Pangaon Inland Terminal in Dhaka; Where only small ships of Chattogram-Pangaon route are crowded. The goods were being loaded and unloaded with 10 key gantry cranes at four jetties for so many days. The NCT terminal will run with a total of 14 gantry cranes from July. About 40 percent of NCT, CCT and GCB container loading and unloading takes place at NCT terminals. Tarafdar Ruhul Amin, Managing Director of Saif Powertec Limited, the operator of the terminal, said it takes an average of 59 hours to complete the loading and unloading of goods on each container ship at NCT Jetty. It takes very little time to import, it takes more time to ship from the export depot. Then if three gantry cranes are used in one jetty, the time will be reduced to 48 hours. If huge working hours are saved, more ships can be loaded at the jetty. More ships can be loaded and unloaded in less time. This will increase the mobility of the port, will put traders ahead in the competition in exporting goods.
Port officials say three gantry cranes will be added to NCT's jetty 2-5 in July. And two cranes will be added to the NCT-1 jetty. It takes a maximum of 12 hours at the NCT jetty to unload imported goods from a ship carrying 1,900 single containers.
Even after giving so many concessions to the garment owners, it takes more time to ship the exported goods. The state-of-the-art Newmooring Container Terminal (NCT) was built in 2007 at a cost of Tk 700 crore from the port's own funds. The purpose was to add 19 key gantry cranes and load and unload the goods quickly. But since gantry cranes could not be attached, goods were loaded and unloaded at NCT by ships with cranes. After 21 years of overcoming complexities with various initiatives, 10 key gantry cranes were added to the port fleet in 2018.
