During the high tide in Bangladesh for so many days, ships with a maximum depth of 9 and a half meters had the facility to land directly at the port jetty. That facility has now been upgraded to 10 meters. Ships with a depth of 10 meters can now be loaded at any time at the jetty of Matarbari Power Station in Maheshkhali Upazila of Cox’s Bazar. The Chittagong Port Authority announced the facility this month.
The deeper the ship can be anchored at the jetty, the more goods can be transported. As the cost of transporting goods decreases, so does the capacity of the port. This is a big component of port facilities.
At the main jetty of Chittagong port, ships with a maximum draft of 9 and a half meters (underwater part of the ship) or depth can now be loaded. At Mongla port it is seven to seven and a half meters. And in Matarbari, the project under Chittagong port, it is 10 meters, which will be gradually increased to 14 meters.
Construction of the 300-meter coal jetty at Matarbari is expected to be completed in December this year. It will be able to accommodate large coal-carrying ships at the jetty of the power plant from next year. The jetty of Matarbari Power Station will be named as the highest port facility in Bangladesh before the new terminal of Chittagong port is opened.
When asked, Chittagong Port Chairman Rear Admiral M Shahjahan told Prothom Alo on Sunday that considering the draft or depth of the ship, the biggest advantage now is in Matarbari. The port is providing all the ancillary facilities for ships.
Even if the port facility is increased in Matarbari, the importers and exporters of the country will not get its benefits now. This is because only power plant construction equipment is being brought to the two jetties for unloading coal and oil at Matarbari. Coal will be imported in big ships in front.
The construction work of Matarbari deep seaport terminal under Chittagong port will be completed in 2025. Then import-export trade will get benefit. And if the road connection is introduced, this terminal will get full benefits from 2026.
Chittagong Chamber President Mahbubul Alam told Prothom Alo that even though he did not get the benefit now, it is definitely good news. There is no doubt that this terminal will be the regional hub of import-export trade in the future. But that’s right, the Bay Terminal project needs to be implemented faster now. Then we don’t have to think about port facilities for the next 50 years.
The construction of a 14 km long waterway at Matarbari Jetty is in the final stages of construction with an average depth of 18 meters (Min C label). This average depth means that the waterway will have about 16 meters of water at low tide. It can be used to navigate ships to a depth of 14 meters.
The work of laying the fuel oil supply pipeline of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation’s ‘Single Point Mooring’ project on Matarbari waterway has been going on for so long. For that, part of the waterway was temporarily diverted. There was no opportunity to ship more than 9 meters deep in the jetty. Now the work of laying the pipeline in that part has been completed. As a result, there is no obstacle to bring and take ships 10 meters deep in the waterway.
However, there was no opportunity to load very large ships at length. Only 150 meters long ships can be loaded. According to the port officials, barges,
Source : Stock News World
