Bangladesh opens third commercial seaport at Payra

Bangladesh has officially launched its seaport at Payra.

It is the country's fourth seaport after Chittagong, Mongla and Cox's Bazar - and the third commercial sea port as the one in Cox's Bazar is not. 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the port through a video-link on Saturday and also launched several digital service centres and a portion of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway that was being eight-laned.

The Payra port is expected to boost the economy of the country's southern districts, along with the Padma rail-road bridge now under construction.

Payra port authority chairman Capt Md Saidur Rahman said that the port will start operation after the inauguration."It will boost the country's exports and imports by connecting to the hinterland through river routes."

The construction of the Payra port was one of the ten mega projects fast-tracked and prioritised by the Sheikh Hasina administration.

Work on the Payra port started on Nov 18, 2013 on an 16-acre plot of land on the west bank of Ramnabad channel at Tiakhali Union of Patuakhali's Kalaparha Upazila.

Construction of the Payra port may involve an overall expenditure of more than Tk 11 billion and it will be fully operational by 2018. But ships have started docking even before the facilities are complete.

"To begin with, cargo from bigger vessels are being offloaded into lighterage vessels and brought to the port. Fifteen lighterage vessels are already at the port with cargo to offload," Capt Saidur Rahman told bdnews24.com

He said construction work is on at a furious pace at the jetties and modern container facilities, water purification plant, the NBR's customs station and security facilities.

"Shipping agents, C&F agents and freight forwarding agents have been appointed," he said.

Another official said that regular dredging will start soon to keep the Ramnabad channel navigable for big container ships. 

Patuakhali revenue official Habibur Rahman told bdnews24.com that a ship 'MV Fortune Bird' anchored at Payra on Aug 1 with 52,379 metric tonnes of stones.

"These stones are for the construction of the Padma rail-road bridge. But offloading the stones has not yet started due to inclement weather," he said.

The Payra sea port is seen as one of the mega projects that can substantially boost the economy of the country's southern districts.

Thousands are likely to get employment when the port is fully complete and totally operational.