The history of Chittagong port, known as the golden gate of Bangladesh economy, is ancient. From the prehistoric documents, it is known about the sea crossing from Chittagong in the 4th century BC. Later Arab and Yemeni traders followed by the Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and British also used the port. The then British-Indian government enacted the Port Commissioners Act in 1887, which came into force on 25 April 1888. Since then the official journey of Chittagong Port started. So every year 25th April is observed as Port Day. On the occasion of the 137th Port Day yesterday (Wednesday) Chittagong Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral Mohammad Sohail interacted with journalists. He said that the country’s economy is active around Chittagong Port. After next 4-5 years Chittagong Port alone will be able to serve five countries like Bangladesh.
The port chairman said 2023 was a very successful year. We have been able to hire foreign operators in the PCT. This will benefit the port as well as the state. Foreign income will increase. Although the terminal is managed by a foreign operator, almost 100% of the workforce is indigenous. In one and a half years, all the equipment of the PC will come. Out of the traditional system, port management has started in the developed world model of landlord system.
He said that the master plan of Bay Terminal, the biggest mega project of the country, has been finalized. Now finalizing the design of the 12-14 meter deep channel is underway. Already got the land of bay terminal. Bay-Terminal will be implemented entirely by foreign investment. 9-10 billion dollars will be foreign investment. This includes the port’s own multipurpose terminal in which the Abu Dhabi Ports Group investment is almost finalised. One container terminal will be implemented by Singapore Port Authority PSA Singapore and the other container terminal by DP World. In addition, the local company will build a liquid bulk terminal with an investment of about three and a half billion dollars. It will take 4-5 years to implement this huge project of Bay-Terminal. So the real port city will be seen after 4-5 years. Then Chittagong port will be the hub port. He also commented that the Bay-Terminal will bring great changes in the region. He said the Covid pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war, recent tensions in the Middle East slowed down the expected pace of the global economy but did not have much impact on container handling at Chittagong Port. After completing the unloading of the ship in maximum two days, I will release it to the next destination. Container handling in the first 9 months of FY 2023-24 has increased by 8.27 percent compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year. If the growth continues, this time there will be 32 lakh TEUs container handling. He also said that in the first 9 months of the financial year, general cargo handling was 9 crore 16 lakh 49 thousand tons. At this time the ship handling was 3 thousand and one. 43,000 square meters of new container yards have been constructed in the past year. A chemical shed of 4,275 square meters has been constructed. 2 thousand 850 meters revetment/bank preservation work has been completed on both banks to protect the navigability of Karnaphuli river. Port chairman said, Matarbari seaport will start operation in its own terminal in three-four years. Efforts to procure support vessels and equipment are ongoing. The acquisition of 700 acres of land in the second phase of Matarbari deep sea port will be completed within six months, he said.
Tags: Chittagong seaport years
