Chinese co willing to finance Bay Terminal

A leading Chinese comprehensive port-service provider is willing to finance construction of Bay Terminal which the government has planned for easing perennial congestion at Chittagong seaport.
Officials said the firm, China Merchants Port (CMport), recently submitted a non-binding expression of interest (EoI) to the ministry of shipping (EoI) in the process of financing the new shipping facility.
In the proposal the CMport said it wants to finance a container terminal having quay length of 1500 metres and a multipurpose terminal having a similar-sized quay length in the proposed Bay Terminal.
The CMport said it wants to finance breakwater of the terminal provided that the concession right to develop and operate the Bay Terminal is awarded directly to the firm.
It wants to form a joint-venture company with Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) as the terminal will be developed in BOT (build, operate, and transfer) model.
The CPA has to carry out necessary dredging on its own to develop the Bay Terminal, it noted.
According to its website, CMport is the largest public port operator in China with investments in Mainland China, Hong Kong and overseas.
Its nationwide port network expands across the Bohai Economic Zone, the Yangtze River Delta, the Xiamen Bay Economic Zone, the Pearl River Delta, and the Southwest region, including the coastal-hub ports in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Ningbo, Shanghai, Qingdao, Tianjin, Xiamen Bay and Zhanjiang.
Besides, the joint venture established by CMport and China - Africa Development Fund-- successfully acquired 47.5 per cent stake in Tin-Can Island Container Terminal Ltd in Nigeria in 2010. In 2015, CMport-invested terminals handled 83.66 million TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) - topping national rankings and placing CMport at the forefront of world's largest independent port operators.
Contacted over the telephone, Chittagong Port spokesperson Zafar Alam told the FE the Asian Development Bank is looking after the issue of appointing a consultant for conducting a feasibility study on the proposed Bay Terminal.
He said a phase of the terminal will be funded by third Line of Credit (LoC) from India and the rest may be developed with foreign investment or under public-private partnership (PPP).
"But everything will be decided after the study is completed," he said and added target is there to start operation of the first-phase terminal by 2021.
According to officials the terminal will be built on an 11km char-land which has emerged nearly 800 metres off the coast. Vessels having over 190-metre length and depth measuring nearly 12 to 13 metres will be able to take berth in the terminal.
The Chittagong port, country's prime seaport, has been reeling from acute congestion for the last couple of months, as it is forced to handle goods beyond the capacity. The waiting time of vessels in the port now stands up to 15 days, resulting in traders paying extra sums as fines to ship owners.
Businessmen have been demanding immediate expansion of capacity of the port by constructing several more terminals and jetties and gathering more equipment to keep alive the lifeline of country's external trade.
In 2016 the Chittagong port saw 16 per cent growth to 2.3 million TEUs in container handling against its annual capacity of 1.7 million TEUs.

syful-islam@outlook.com