CPA turns to pvt operator after losses

CHITTAGONG, Sep 2: The Chittagong Port Authority has handed over three of its container vessels to a private operator.
Summit Alliance Port Ltd (SAPL), the operator, will pay Tk 1.40 million for the three ships every month for the next five years.
Chairman of the CPA Rear Admiral Nizam Uddin Ahmed handed over the ships to Aziz Khan, chairman of the SAPL, this afternoon. The handing over ceremony was held at New Mooring Container Terminal berth no-1 of the CPA.
Shipping Minister M Shajahan Khan attended the function as the chief guest, while secretary of the Ministry of Shipping Shafiq Alam Mehedi and SAPL chairman Aziz Khan were present as the special guests. The function was chaired by CPA chairman.
Earlier in the morning, the Minister formally opened the Customs Auction Shed of the Chittagong Port Authority near Shahid Engineer Shamsuzz-aman Stadium (Port Stadium).
As the CPA could not run the vessels profitably on the CPA-Pangaon ICT route, they have remained almost unused for the last 20 months since the CPA introduced the vessels-Pangaon Express, Pangaon Success and Pangaon Vision-in December 2013. They were procured from Malaysia at a cost of Tk 500 million in 2013.
Regarding why the CPA is leasing out its vessels to the private operator Shajahan Khan said export and import at the Chittagong Port are growing fast. With this, the container handling grows at 14-15 per cent each year.
The port authority was incurring substantial loss every month on account of the three vessels due to lack of necessary workforce. It has no extra pilot either to run the vessels. Besides, the port is a service-oriented organisation and its prime function is to facilitate business for the private sector, not doing business itself, he said.
The three vessels procured by CPA have handled 1,800 TEUs of containers in the last 20 months, he said.
He said that Chittagong Port has made tremendous improvement in the last six years under the government of Sheikh Hasina. Container-handling and container-scanning in the port have been digitalised.
The government has also built the Pangaon ICT and taken improvement schemes for Mongla Port and construction of Paira Port and deep-sea port at Sonadia, he said.
He said that the government has facilitated construction of four inland container terminals in the private sector. SAPL has already developed its container terminal, Rupayan is developing its ICT and two other companies are working on it.
Some quarters in Chittagong have raised allegations that the proposed Sonadia deep-sea port is being taken away to Paira, which is not correct, he noted. The government has planned to build the Sonadia deep seaport. And the government is looking for fund for the project as it will cost Tk 400 to 500 billion (Tk 40, 000 to Tk 50, 000).
 "Construction of the deep-sea port at Sonadia is a fast-track project. Construction of the project would start as soon as the fund is available," he said.  "However, we cannot solely depend on the Chittagong Port. To meet the challenge of growing cargo-handling, we must build other ports as well. That's why, we have made the Mongla Port vibrant. It was quickly dying out port and a losing port. We have improved it and made it profitable last year," he said.
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