New Mooring Container Terminal operates well below its capacity
Saturday, 16 January 2010
Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
Efficiency enhancement and capacity building of the Chittagong Port suffered a severe blow as a strong political lobby forced the authorities to suspend appointment of a global operator at New Mooring Container terminal (NMCT).
The terminal with a capacity to handle 1.0 million containers of twenty-feet equivalent unit (TEU) was launched in 2007, but it is yet to be fully functional even after three years.
The revenue loss of the government has been estimated at $40 million a year as a fully functional terminal would fetch an equal amount as handling charges at a rate of at least $40 per container.
The tender process was at final stage and in this situation the suspension is a big blow to build the capacity of the port, said an official of the port.
A highly influential ruling party leader in Chittagong sent a letter to the shipping ministry in early January asking it not to appoint any foreign operator in the port, said a senior official of the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA).
"He suggested that the port should be operated by the CPA not by global operator," he said.
In the meeting of the standing committee on shipping ministry in December, the CPA chairman was also asked to suspend the tender process, he added.
Considering the growing need for containerisation, the CPA has developed the NMCT in the port adjacent to the existing container terminal CCT.
The foreign trade reached about $38 billion in the last fiscal and this year it is expected to grow more.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her recent visit to New Delhi agreed to allow India to use the port, which means the port will need to handle more containers.
The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) had short-listed four operators from pre-qualification bid and the companies were due to submit their tender documents on January 14.
The companies are APM Terminals (part of AP Moller/Maersk Group of companies), Hutchison Port Investment Limited, International Container Terminal Limited and Peninsular & Orient Steam Navigation Company (part of Dubai Ports World).
The authorities started the tender process in September 2008 to appoint a globally reputed operator having the capacity to invest $150 million for setting up cranes and other supporting machinery at the NCT and manage it.
The port aims to earn over Tk 2.5 billion per year from the appointed company for cargo handling, said another CPA official.
The company would set up 10 gantry cranes in the 1,000 metres long terminal, he said.
"If the CPA does not award the contract to global operator then it has to buy all necessary equipment for smooth handling of the NMCT," the official said.
"The shipping minister and CPA chairman are now abroad and the tender decision will be taken after their return," he added.
Shipping minister Shajahan Khan, CPA chairman Riaz Uddin Ahmed, members of the standing committee on the ministry, and other officials are now visiting different ports in Asia.
The port cargo handling is growing at an annual rate of 11 to 14 per cent. It now needs more terminal with necessary backyard to sustain the growth, the official said.
The NCT started its operation in 2007 and has the capacity to handle 1.0 million twenty-feet equivalent (TEU) containers at its five berths, but now it manages over 0.2 million containers.
The government started the development work of NMCT in 2005 and invested over Tk 5.0 billion.
The Chittagong port achieved an 8.55 per cent container handling growth in the last calendar year due to rise in import volume.
The Chittagong port, the principal port of the country, handles 92 per cent of the export-import trade worth US$37 billion.
The port handled 1,161,469 TEUs in 2009 against 1,069,999 TEUs in the previous year, port statistics shows.
Efficiency enhancement and capacity building of the Chittagong Port suffered a severe blow as a strong political lobby forced the authorities to suspend appointment of a global operator at New Mooring Container terminal (NMCT).
The terminal with a capacity to handle 1.0 million containers of twenty-feet equivalent unit (TEU) was launched in 2007, but it is yet to be fully functional even after three years.
The revenue loss of the government has been estimated at $40 million a year as a fully functional terminal would fetch an equal amount as handling charges at a rate of at least $40 per container.
The tender process was at final stage and in this situation the suspension is a big blow to build the capacity of the port, said an official of the port.
A highly influential ruling party leader in Chittagong sent a letter to the shipping ministry in early January asking it not to appoint any foreign operator in the port, said a senior official of the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA).
"He suggested that the port should be operated by the CPA not by global operator," he said.
In the meeting of the standing committee on shipping ministry in December, the CPA chairman was also asked to suspend the tender process, he added.
Considering the growing need for containerisation, the CPA has developed the NMCT in the port adjacent to the existing container terminal CCT.
The foreign trade reached about $38 billion in the last fiscal and this year it is expected to grow more.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her recent visit to New Delhi agreed to allow India to use the port, which means the port will need to handle more containers.
The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) had short-listed four operators from pre-qualification bid and the companies were due to submit their tender documents on January 14.
The companies are APM Terminals (part of AP Moller/Maersk Group of companies), Hutchison Port Investment Limited, International Container Terminal Limited and Peninsular & Orient Steam Navigation Company (part of Dubai Ports World).
The authorities started the tender process in September 2008 to appoint a globally reputed operator having the capacity to invest $150 million for setting up cranes and other supporting machinery at the NCT and manage it.
The port aims to earn over Tk 2.5 billion per year from the appointed company for cargo handling, said another CPA official.
The company would set up 10 gantry cranes in the 1,000 metres long terminal, he said.
"If the CPA does not award the contract to global operator then it has to buy all necessary equipment for smooth handling of the NMCT," the official said.
"The shipping minister and CPA chairman are now abroad and the tender decision will be taken after their return," he added.
Shipping minister Shajahan Khan, CPA chairman Riaz Uddin Ahmed, members of the standing committee on the ministry, and other officials are now visiting different ports in Asia.
The port cargo handling is growing at an annual rate of 11 to 14 per cent. It now needs more terminal with necessary backyard to sustain the growth, the official said.
The NCT started its operation in 2007 and has the capacity to handle 1.0 million twenty-feet equivalent (TEU) containers at its five berths, but now it manages over 0.2 million containers.
The government started the development work of NMCT in 2005 and invested over Tk 5.0 billion.
The Chittagong port achieved an 8.55 per cent container handling growth in the last calendar year due to rise in import volume.
The Chittagong port, the principal port of the country, handles 92 per cent of the export-import trade worth US$37 billion.
The port handled 1,161,469 TEUs in 2009 against 1,069,999 TEUs in the previous year, port statistics shows.