The much-anticipated Patenga Container Terminal (PCT) of Chattogram Port commenced operations today (June 10, 2024), marking a significant milestone for the port and the country. A container vessel, the Singapore-flagged ‘MAERSK DAVAO,’ anchored at the terminal this morning, initiating regular handling activities. Authorities anticipate the terminal will handle approximately 500,000 Twenty-ft Equivalent Units (TEUs) annually. PCT is the first terminal in Chattogram Port’s history to be operated by a foreign company, heralding a new era of foreign investment and operational models. This transformation has positioned Chattogram as a landlord port, a significant upgrade for Bangladesh’s maritime infrastructure. Ctg Port resumes partial activities after Cyclone Remal Six months ago, the Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) signed an agreement with the Jeddah-based Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) of Saudi Arabia. Following customs formalities and equipment installations, Red Sea Gateway Bangladesh Limited has now officially commenced operations. Omar Faruk, Secretary of CPA, confirmed that RSGT is fully prepared to manage container handling at the newly built terminal. According to the CPA, the new terminal will not only enhance the port’s capacity but also reduce the average stay time for vessels. Constructed at a cost of Tk 150 crore, funded by the port, the PCT features state-of-the-art facilities, including gantry cranes that significantly increase loading and unloading efficiency. Rear Admiral Md Sohail, Chairman of the Chattogram Port Authority, noted that it would take approximately 18 months for the terminal to become fully operational. The PCT was built on 32 acres of land near Chattogram Drydock Limited to Boat Club, with the foundation stone laid on September 8, 2017. The project, supervised by the 34 Engineer Construction Brigade of the Army, commenced construction in 2018, involving a total cost of Tk 1,230 crore. Parliamentary delegation explores Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar in Ctg With the new terminal, vessels will no longer need to wait at the outer anchorage for extended periods, as the Patenga Container Terminal can accommodate four vessels at once across its jetties. This increased capacity is expected to alleviate congestion and streamline operations at Chattogram Port.

A large container vessel having a draught of 10 metres and length of 200 metres will anchor at the Chittagong Port for the first time on trial basis on Sunday, according to Chattogram port officials. Enhancement of the port’s berthing capabilities will increase its container handling capacity, reduce transport costs and turnaround times- the time required for loading and unloading of goods at the port, they said. The port authorities have completed all kinds of preparations including increasing the depth of the Karnaphuli River estuary and skills development training of the operators. According to the port authorities, vessels having only 9.5 metres draught and 195 metres length have been anchored at the port jetty since 2015. However, after receiving a positive response from the survey of UK-based consultancy firm 'HR Wallingford', the port took the initiative to handle larger vessels. The 10-metre draught ships will be able to carry 3,500 TEUs containers to the port and bring down the overall cargo handling costs. Chief Hydrographer of Chittagong port authority Commander Arifur Rahman, said in view of the report provided by the research institute, the large vessels' berthing trial run will begin on Sunday. "If it becomes successful in this trial operation, the port will soon notify local and global shipping companies to operate bigger vessels on this route. Later, we will allow berthing when big ships arrive, added the commander" Also Read: Freight operation from Ctg suspended as lighter vessel workers on strike With the development, Chattogram port will notify shipping companies for allowing ships with bigger draught on this route, said Khairul Alam Suzan, vice-president of the Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association. Bigger ships will reduce the cost of import-export significantly and huge money will be saved annually, he said. Having the capacity to handle larger vessels  is essential for expanding trade, he said adding people involved sector and export-import trade have long been demanding an increase in the berthing capacity of the Chattogram port but the port authorities did not do it without a proper survey, he added.    

Workers at the Chattogram Seaport on Sunday unloaded 15 bogies of a train and other equipment imported from China for Padma Bridge Rail Project, an official said. Of the 15 bogies, eight were unloaded on Saturday while the rest were unloaded on Sunday at No 12 jetty of the port, said Omar Faruque, secretary of the Chattogram Port Authority. Another 85 bogies will reach the port from China over next few months, he said. Read more: Akhaura-Agartala rail link to open in June 2023: Railway Minister

As water transport workers went on a countrywide strike from midnight, unloading at the outer anchorage of Chattogram port remained suspended on Sunday. Following the call of Noujan Sramik Sangram Parishad, workers suspended movement of lighter vessels, oil tankers used to unload goods from big ships anchored at Chattogram port’s outer dock from 12am. Vice President of Bangladesh Lighter Vessels Workers Union, Nabi Alam, said that the indefinite strike was announced on November 15 to press home their 10-point demand, including minimum wage set at Tk 20,000. Red more: Passengers suffer as Barishal water transport workers go on indefinite strike The general workers have stopped unloading goods from midnight and lighter vessel movement from 18 private terminals at Majhir Ghat and Sadarghat areas, he said. The strike is going on simultaneously at Dhaka, Barishal and Chandpur, major regions connected by waterways. Water transport services on 18 routes from Barishal came to a standstill as water transport workers there embarked on a strike, causing woes to passengers. In Chandpur, movement of 40 launches, including 25 that ply on Chandpur-Dhaka route, remained suspended from Sunday morning. Other demands of the workers are: providing appointment letter, identity card and service book to workers; formation of Contributory Provident Fund and Seafarer Welfare Fund to provide food and sea allowances; providing Tk 10 lakh compensation for accident and death while on duty. Read more: Water transport workers to go on strike from Nov 26 Besides, water transport workers also want relaxation of restrictions on night-time movement of sand-carrying bulkheads and dredgers, stopping terrorism, extortion and robbery on waterways, stopping harassment along the Indian border in providing landing passes to workers travelling to India, 100% enforcement of goods transport policy at Chattogram port, and cancelling lease at Charpara Ghat and stopping all kinds of irregularities and mismanagement by the Department of Shipping.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Tuesday asked master operator( Mechanical Division) of Chattogram Port Authority Azam Khan  and his wife to submit their wealth statements. Deputy Director of ACC Public relation office Muhammad Arif Sadeq told UNB, a notice was issued in this regard. Read:Ranjit Kumar Roy in ACC's crosshairs The notice sought statements declaring all immovable or movable properties acquired in their own names and their dependents. The source of income and the detailed information on how those were acquired will have to be submitted to the ACC within 21 working days of receiving the notice.

An imported high-speed patrol boat for Chattogram port’s internal communication has arrived from Italy MV Songa Cheeta, the container ship carrying the boat, was berthed at the CCT jetty of the port on Sunday, said the port authority. It arrived at outer anchorage on Saturday completing a 26-day journey starting from Italy’s Salerno port on April 18. The speed boat bought from Italy has cost the port authority Tk 22 crore. It will be used for fast movement of port pilots from Patenga to Matarbari deep sea port and to avoid unexpected accidents at outer anchorage. Also read: First container ship leaves for Italy from Ctg port with RMG goods The boat with 16.5 meters length and 1.2 meters depth was made at FB Design yard in Italy. The boat has modern navigational equipment, satellite radar, satellite compass, two engines, three generators and other necessary instruments. The boat can carry 16 passengers at a time and will be able to turn on its own if it capsizes due to catastrophic weather, said the authority. Also read: Crew of sunken ship stranded in Kolkata for 5 weeks; out of money, may stop getting food Md Omar Faruq, Secretary of Chattogram port authority said, “The boat can be unloaded after 300 containers. A total of 10 staff, officials of the port’s shipping department are being trained to operate the boat.” “The boat will be sent for trial operation after unloading and clearance from customs. After trial it will be kept at the service jetty of berth-1,” he said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said the India’s northeastern states like Assam and Tripura can use Bangladesh’s Chittagong seaport by strengthening the connectivity between the two neighbouring countries. "If the connectivity is increased, the Indian northeastern states -like Assam and Tripura- can have access to the seaport in Chattogram," she said. The premier said this when visiting Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met her at her official residence Ganobhaban on Thursday afternoon. PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting. Hasina said an initiative has already been taken to reopen the cross-border routes which had been shut down in 1965. During the meeting, both of them expressed happiness at the state of the existing bilateral relations between the two countries. Read: Jaishankar in city to meet PM Hasina Hasina said high-level visits between the two countries give impetus to carry forward the relations. Jaishankar said the bilateral issues are being reviewed and it’s progressing well. Besides, different issues including defence  cooperation, water sharing of Kushiara and Feni Rivers, current Covid situation and impacts of Russia-Ukraine war on the global economy came up for the discussion. Foreign Senior Secretary Masud Bin Momen, PMO Senior Secretary Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah and Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami were present. Jaishankar arrived here on a day’s visit on Thursday.  

Chattogram Customs in a recent investigation found out that a company has tried to evade Tk 7 .11 crore revenue by importing cigarettes behind dates from Dubai. The consignment had 55,52,400 sticks of Mound cigarettes worth Tk 1.19 Crore, said MD Sharfuddin Mia, Deputy Commissioner of Chattogram Customs House. He said the information was revealed on Sunday during a physical examination at Ispahani Summit Alliance Terminals Limited at Sagarika. Also read: Customs officials recover firearms, ammo hidden in household goods at Ctg port According to customs, a 40 feet container supposed to be filled with dates was shipped on December 27, last year from Jebel Ali port in Dubai and it reached Chattogram Port on December 30. The consignment was imported by Suchona International owned by Jahangir Alam from Boktopur in Fatikchhari upazila in Chattogram. After the importer did not submit a bill of entry for four months and the container was lying at the yard, Customs officials conducted a physical test Sunday which revealed the irregularity. Among the 2,772 cartons in the container 1,983 had cigarettes which were hidden behind 789 cartons of dates. Also read: Customs hotline starts test operation for ASYCUDA related service MD Sharfuddin Mia said, “In fear of detective surveillance the importer could not release the consignment of cigarettes from the port. Strict legal actions will be taken against importer Suchona International for trying to evade revenue.”

A cargo vessel  carrying 2,950 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) of liquefied natural gas (LNG)arrived at Chattogram Port on Thursday, aiming to ease the ongoing gas crisis in the capital. The vessel anchored at the port at the 7:30 am and necessary formalities have already been completed in this regard, said Md Omar Faruque, secretary of Chattogram port authority. Earlier on Wednesday, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid assured people of resolving the gas crisis soon and informed arrival of the LNG-carrying cargo vessel in a status posted from his verified Facebook page.  “A sudden problem at the Bibiana gas field caused low pressure of gas in some parts of the country from the first day of Ramadan. An LNG-carrying cargo was arranged immediately to resolve the crisis. 2,950 MMFCD LNG filled cargo will arrive at Chittagong port tomorrow at 7 am” wrote Nasrulk Hamid in his post. The state minister thanked the tireless work of experienced engineers to overcome this crisis. “The Bibiana gas field is currently producing 1,100 million cubic feet of gas,” he said. After four days of disruption the Chevron-operated Bibiyana gas field resumed full production from Thursday morning. Read: Gas crisis likely to end as Bibiyana resumes full production The country’s gas production drastically fell by about 450 MMCFD (million cubic feet per day) on Sunday, the very first day of Ramadan, following a technical fault developed in the Bibiyana gas field. The Bibiyana gas field production capacity is 1200 MMCFD. The supply situation started improving from Monday afternoon as production resumed at one of the two affected process trains at the gas field. Officials said the gas field process system noticed that sand was coming out from two production wells which forced the authorities concerned to halt the production of the wells. The incident had a big impact on the overall gas production as many areas experienced disruptions following the fall in the pressure of gas supply as an outcome of the fault. The major impact was on the power generation as the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) had to shut down a good number of power plants immediately which led to load shedding at different districts across the country.

The body of another worker, who went missing after a lighter vessel sank in the outer anchorage area of Chattogram port, was recovered on Tuesday, raising the death toll from the incident to two. The deceased was identified as Nurul Absar Lavlu, 37, a resident of Dakshin Bhuiyan village in Mirsarai upazila. Read: Lighter vessel sinks in Bay off Ctg port, 8 missing Mohammad Ekram Ullah, in-charge of Kumira Naval Police, said local people spotted the floating body of Lavlu near the coastal area of Bhatiari of Sitakunda upazila of Chattogram district at noon and informed police. On information, naval police recovered the body with the help of a local people. Two workers are still missing, sources said. Earlier on Saturday, eight crew members went missing after the lighter vessel carrying cement and clinker sank in the outer anchorage area of Chattogram port. Read: Another lighter vessel sinks near Mongla port According to Chattogram port sources, the lighter vessel -- Titu-14 -- sank in the Bay of Bengal following a collision with a dredger in the outer anchorage area of the port. The Coast Guard members managed to rescue nine of the 13 crew members of the vessel while four remained missing.