The construction of the Bay Terminal in Chattogram is now making headway, with the shipping ministry finalising the master plan last week, officials said.
According to them, it will be sent to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) soon for approval.
The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), and DP World will build one multipurpose terminal and two container terminals for the 12-metre draught modern port facility, added the officials.
Sources said the master plan of the Bay Terminal, prepared jointly by two consulting firms -- South Korea-based Kunhwa Consulting & Engineering Co Ltd and Daeyoung Engineering Co Ltd -- was placed before the shipping ministry officials and relevant stakeholders on Tuesday last week.
The meeting, chaired by Shipping Secretary Mostafa Kamal, was also attended by representatives from PSA Singapore, DP World, transaction advisor Ernst & Young Global Limited and relevant ministries and departments.
"Most of the meeting participants praised the master plan after the presentation made by the consulting companies," an official who attended the meeting told the FE.
Contacted on Friday, the shipping secretary told the FE that the master plan of the Bay Terminal has been finalised. "Now we will send it to the PMO soon for formal approval," he said.
Mr Kamal said there are three main stakeholders who will build the three terminals. The World Bank will fund the construction of the breakwater and main navigation channel of the terminal.
He said the work on land acquisition, feasibility study, and master plan is ongoing, while the beginning of physical work of the terminal will be decided by the companies concerned.
According to officials concerned, the Bay Terminal will be constructed on nearly 2,500 acres of land surfaced from the seabed near the Halishahar coast in Chattogram in Anandangar/Sandwip Channel.
Having a natural channel, the terminal will be able to handle vessels with a 12-metre water draft, compared to the Chittagong port's current capacity to dock vessels up to a 9.5-metre draft with the help of tide.
The three terminals of the facility will be able to handle up to three dozen vessels of 5,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) each at a time, some of which will be up to 300 metres long. The Bay Terminal will enhance the Chittagong port's handling capacity by an additional three million TEUs once it starts operating at full capacity.
In the first phase of construction, the Container Terminal 1 and the Multipurpose Terminal will each have a 2,500-metre-long berth, which will be extended to 3,500 metres in the second phase, according to officials.
When contacted, CPA Chairman Rear Admiral Mohammad Sohail told the FE that the Bay Terminal will be the country's first seaport on the seabank, while all other ports are built on riverbanks.
"It will be a multimodal terminal with connectivity to both road and rail," he said.
The terminal, the chairman said, will not need to wait for the tide to handle vessels up to 14 metres.
"The Bay Terminal itself will be larger than the existing Chittagong port and will also have the capacity to handle a higher volume of cargo," he said.
Mr Sohail said the physical construction work of the terminal is expected to start in mid-2024 and be completed by 2027 at a cost of around $5.0 billion.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
