File photo of Chattogram port.
“>File photo of Chattogram port.
The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has urged stakeholders to comply with Hamburg Port Consulting (HPC) in the process of appointing a foreign operator at Patenga Container Terminal (PCT).
CPA Secretary Md Omar Farooq sent a letter to 14 organisations including the BGMEA, Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association, FBCCI, Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industries on 25 January, instructing them to provide information regarding container handling to the HPC.
The letter states that International Finance Corporation (IFC) is providing transaction advisory services to CPA for this project. In addition, the IFC has appointed Hamburg Port Consulting (HPC) as the technical consultant to conduct market parameters to determine the technically and operationally feasible capacity of PCT.
“The consultant HPC will need to understand the market situation of containers handled at Chittagong Port and the future demand taking the project into account. The consultant will reach out for information. You are requested to extend support towards HPC,” reads the letter.
The Chittagong Port Authority signed an agreement with the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to negotiate with Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) to prepare a proposal for appointing foreign operators to manage the Patenga Container Terminal.
Mizanur Rahman Sarkar, project director of Patenga Container Terminal and executive engineer Chittagong Port Authority, said that the terminal operator will be appointed as per the transaction advisors and technical consultants.
“We will provide the information to the institutions regarding tariff and tax for managing the terminal,” he added. He could not, however, confirm when the private operator will be appointed.
The terminal, with three container jetties and an oil unloading (dolphin) jetty, will be able to load and unload containers from four cargo vessels simultaneously.
About 92% of the country’s import and export goods pass through the Chattogram port. Currently, the port has 19 jetties at three terminals: General Cargo Berth, Chattogram Container Terminal, and New Mooring Container Terminal.
After the opening of Patenga terminal – 15 years after the new mooring terminal was constructed in 2007 – the number of jetties will rise to 23.
The Bangladesh Army was attached to the “delegated procurement” of the project located near the Karnaphuli River. The construction includes a 583-metre main jetty with three berths, a 204-metre-long dolphin jetty, 80,000 metres of roller-compacted concrete pavement, a 1.20 km four-lane road and other infrastructures.
