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The port authority and the Abu Dhabi firm sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the investment
Published : 17 May 2024, 12:47 AM
Abu Dhabi Ports Group has agreed to invest $1 billion in the construction of a multipurpose terminal under the Bay Terminal Project of Chattogram Port.
The firm’s CEO Saif Al Mazrouei and Chattogram Port Chairman Rear Admiral Mohammad Sohail signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the project at Hotel Westin in Dhaka on Thursday.
Representatives of the shipping ministry and Saif Powertech, the Bangladesh agent of AD Ports Group, were also present.
According to the MoU, Abu Dhabi Ports Group will invest in the Bay Terminal Project, including the construction of the multipurpose terminal,
Apart from infrastructure development, they will also procure machinery.
Once the terminal is built, the port will have an annual capacity of 1 million TEU, or twenty-foot equivalent units, containers and 7 million metric tonnes of cargo handling.
Officials see this agreement as an important step towards increasing import and export efficiency by reducing transport costs and time.
State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said on the occasion that Cattogram Port has achieved international port capacity in the last 15 years.
An agreement has been signed with Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Gateway Terminal to operate Patenga Container Terminal of Chattogram Port and it will be operational soon, the state minister said.
“If the bay terminal is built, ships will come and go 24 hours a day. There’ll be no need to wait for low tide. Chattogram Port will move to a different height. There will be road and rail connectivity with the bay terminal. Transportation of goods will be easy,” he said.
“Our doors are open. I will provide all kinds of facilities for investment in any port of the country. Bay Terminal will open up new horizons in the field of maritime transport in Bangladesh. We want to start the construction of the multipurpose terminal in a short time.”
Mongla Port is also being upgraded and it will achieve the same capacity as Chattogram Port, Khalid said.
He said 200-metre long ships are docking at the jetty under construction at Payra Port. “It's a new feeling. Earlier we had to depend on Colombo and Singapore ports for mother vessel transportation. Currently a deep sea port is being constructed at Matarbari. This will reduce dependency on others.”
He hopes Matarbari Port will become a regional hub.
The ministry’s spokesman Jahangir Alam Khan said that consultants were hired in 2017 for feasibility studies on the bay terminal project.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina unveiled the final master plan in November last year.
The master plan has a total of three terminals, including two container terminals – each 1,225-metre long – and a multipurpose terminal with a length of 1,500 metres. The total length of the three terminals is 4.95 km.
Singapore's PSA and Dubai's DP World are expected to invest in the two other terminals.
A total of 11 jetties are proposed in the master plan. Due to adequate navigability in the channel, 300-metre long ships with a 12 metre draft will be able to dock there.
A six-kilometre long breakwater will be constructed to protect the terminal from adverse weather conditions and large sea waves.
The World Bank will finance the dredging of the six-kilometre long breakwater and access channel.
The multipurpose bay terminal will be 1 kilometre away from the outer anchorage.
The authorities have acquired 27 hectares of private land while 200 hectares of government land has been allotted for the bay terminal project.
The government expects to open the terminal in 2026 and handle 5 million containers in it per year.
Shipping Secretary Mustafa Kamal, UAE Ambassador to Bangladesh Abdulla Ali Abdulla Khaseif AlHmoudi and Regional CEO of AD Ports Group Ahmad Almutawa also spoke at the event.
