CHATTOGRAM, May 17: Chittagong Port is set to enhance its cargo handling speed by 25 per cent within this calendar year as it installed port's first ever rail-mounted gantry crane and nine other sophisticated equipment today.
35 other cranes and other equipment will arrive from abroad by next August.
Shipping Minister M Shajahan Khan MP inaugurated the rail mounted gantry (RMG) crane, six rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes, one log handler and two 20-tonne mobile cranes.
At the function, Shajahan Khan said the port's much awaited Bay Container Terminal (BCT) and the under-construction Patenga Container Terminal (PCT) will go into operation by the end of 2020.
He said this while inaugurating the equipments at Jetty number 5 of New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) in the country's prime seaport, attended by the port's stakeholders, trade body leaders, senior port officials, workers, CBA leaders and other dignitaries.
Presided over by the Chairman of the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) Commodore Zulfiquer Aziz (E) the event was also addressed by President of The Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mahbubul Alam and Port CBA president Abul Mansur Ahmed.
The port authority has procured the rail mounted yard gantry crane from China at the cost of Tk 219.6 million.
Four rubber-tyred gantry cranes was purchased from the same country at Tk 558 million, two rubber-tyred gantry cranes from the United Arab Emirates at Tk 279 million, one log handler from Germany at Tk 62.4 million and two mobile cranes from Italy at Tk 66 million.
The rail mounted gantry crane was commissioned on May 14 last, the mobile cranes commissioned on May 15 and the RTGs and log handler commissioned in December and January last.
Minister Shajahan Khan also formally launched the Dolphin Jetty at the River Mooring number 3, a permanent berthing facility instead of the earlier floating gangway for speedy discharge of edible oil from ships of 190 metres in length.
He also opened the four-storey Security Building with the floor space of 48,000 square feet with Information Technology (IT) facilities, Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) control system, access control, e-data, e-documentation and internet facilities. The construction of the building was completed in March 2018.
A wireless tower will also be installed on top of the building, officials said.
Inaugurating the projects, the shipping minister said the port authority is facing criticisms from the port users that it suffers from shortage of containerised and bulk cargo handling equipment leading to the container and ships congestion.
"But we have now almost solved the cargo handling equipment shortage with wholehearted project support from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Our status among the global ports is 71st, up from 98th in only 10 years and we hope to be among the top 10 seaports of the globe in near future," he said.
He said that the rail mounted gantry crane, the first ever in Bangladesh, will be run on electricity to avoid emission of air pollution.
The ships calling in the port will also be fuelled by electricity during their stay here as their engines keep on running continuously.
CCCI president Mahbubul Alam has lauded the initiatives of the CPA to expedite cargo handling activities taken over the pasrt few years.
In his welcome address, the port chairman said despite multiple challenges the port has been making bold inroads into the national development as custodian of cargo to provide timely delivery to importers, exporters, entrepreneurs and industrialists alongside playing a vital role towards achieving the Vision 2021 and Vision 2041.
As many as 35 other cargo handling equipment including six quay gantry cranes, eight rubber tyred gantry cranes, reach stackers, forklifts, mobile cranes, mobile harbor cranes and pipe handlers will be added to the port handling activities by August.
With the installation of the rail mounted gantry cranes, the Kamalapur ICD-bound railway wagons will be able to do the loading and unloading of the containers in only four hours instead of the existing time consumption of eight hours.
Additional Secretary of the Shipping Ministry Tariqul Islam, CPA Board Members Zafar Alam, Commodore Shaheen Rahman, Quamrul Amin and Khondakar Akhtar Hossain, Saif Powertec MD Tarafdar Ruhul Amin, BICDA Chairman Nurul Quayyum Khan, founder president of Junior Chamber Niaz Morshed Elite, president of Junior Chamber Md Gias Uddin, C&F Agents Association president Akhtar Hossain Chowdhury and secretary Altaf Hossain Banchchu, were present, among others.
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