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 pilot died and another was injured after a training fighter jet of Bangladesh Air Force crashed into the Karnaphuli river in  Chattogram on Thursday (May 09, 2024) morning. The pilot, Asim Jawad, passed away around 12:30 pm while undergoing treatment at BNS Issa Khan Hospital in Patenga, said Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) Port Divison Deputy Commissioner Shakila Sultana. The injured pilot is Wing Commander Sohan.   Air Force training fighter jet crashes in Ctg; 2 pilots rescued  The two pilots managed to eject from the aircraft  through parachutes. They were rescued and taken to hospital. The BAF aircraft of Zahurul Haq Base crashed near the Boat Club. “A YAK 130 training fighter of the Bangladesh Air Force crashed at Patenga in Chattogram due to mechanical failure. Two pilots of the plane were rescued,” reads a statement released by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). Divers and fire fighters are working to retrieve the aircraft.  Read more: Bangladesh Air Force Chief departs for Australia

A training fighter jet of Bangladesh Air Force crashed into the Karnaphuli river in  Chattogram on Thursday (May 09, 2024) morning. “A YAK 130 training fighter of the Bangladesh Air Force crashed at Patenga in Chattogram due to mechanical failure. Two pilots of the plane were rescued,” reads a statement released by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). Read more: Bangladesh Air Force Annual Exercise 2023 being held

The Tk 8,300 crore Single Point Mooring (SPM) with double pipeline project is failing to utilise its full capacity due to non-expansion of the country's refinery capacity. According to official sources, the newly installed SPM can now hardly utilise 60 percent of its capacity while around 40 percent remains unutilised. The SPM project took about nine years to implement and now the project has been operational recently through execution of a test-run. But formally the project will be completed in June this year, said an official of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC). Officials informed that after recent commissioning of the SPM project, now it takes only 48 hours to transfer the imported petroleum from the mother vessel to storage tanks. Before setting up the SMP, it took 11 to 12 days to bring  the imported fuel to the oil tanker of Eastern Refinery Limited  at Petenga area through lighterage ships, which is very time-consuming, expensive, and risky. Currently, no lighterage is required to carry fuel from the mother vessel, which is now moored at the outer quay, after the implementation of the project, said the officials. 2 KNF operatives killed in army operation in Bandarban: ISPR The SPM was built on over 90 acres of land under a G2G project of Bangladesh and China at a cost of Tk 8341 crore at Maheshkhali Upazila in Cox's Bazar. Officials said that there are three tanks having a storage capacity of 1.80 lakh kilolitre crude oils and three tanks with 1.08 lakh kilolitre furnished oil. Project director of the SPM Sharif Hasanat admitted that the project's 30-40 percent capacity remained unutilised because of the limitations in refining more crude oils. He informed that Bangladesh annually imports about 4.5 million metric tons of refined oils and another 1.5 million metric tons of crude oil from abroad. "Through handling the imported oils, the SPM project now utilises 60 percent of its capacity," he said, adding, if more crude oils are imported SPM can be used for transportation purpose.       Officials said the government has undertaken a project to expand the capacity of the country's only refinery --the Eastern Refinery at Patenga with the title ERL-2 to increase the existing capacity by 3 million metric tons. But that project has not been implemented in the last 14 years since the project was conceived by the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).     According to official sources, BPC was considering a technical offer of Technip, a French engineering company, which was engaged through an unsolicited process for creating Front End Engineering Design (FEED) involving Tk 371.81 crore for the proposed ERL unit-2 through a contract signed in January, 2017. But Technip has left and a local company is trying to persuade the government to implement the ERL-2 project through public-private partnership (PPP) although that private company has no experience in implementing such a project, said a top official of the BPC. Teen gang leader killed in Chattogram over ‘establishing dominance’ The Unit-2 project was taken by BPC in 2010 to enhance the company’s capacity to 4.5 million metric tons by adding 3 million metric tons from the new one. The Unit-1 of the ERL, was installed in 1968 by the same French company, has an annual production capacity of 1.5 million metric tons. Recently, an Indian firm claimed that it will be involved in the project to implement it at a cost of US 1.7 billion dollars over a period of next three years. Officials said when BPC conceived the idea of ERL Unit-2 in 2010, the project cost was estimated at Tk 13,000 crore. Then, the project’s cost was raised to Tk16,739 crore in a revised proposal. But now, the cost may cross Tk 18,000 crore, he said adding that BPC has sent a new development project proforma (DPP) to the Planning Commission through the Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) seeking another revision to the cost. The country consumes about 6-6.5 million metric tons (MTS) of petroleum of which 4.8-5 million MTS is imported as refined one while the remaining 1.2-15 million MTS as crude oil to refine those at ERL. Read more: Bangladesh to import 1.5mn metric tons of crude oil from Saudi Aramco, UAE’s Adnoc

A girl was saved from rape attempt in Chattogram after she called national emergency service 999 to seek help from police on early Monday.

Reshmi Akhter, a primary school student, will never get the chance to read her new textbooks.