A Correspondent :
The of Chattogram Port, Prime sea port of the country has attained the container handling capacity of four million TEUs (Twenty Feet Equivalent Units) annually.
Talking to this correspondent Omar Faruk, Secretary of Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) said that the container handling capacity has been increased due to installations of modern handling equipment in the port premises.
He said, recently the CPA had installed six gantry cranes for container handling.
With the installation of six gantry cranes at the premier port at a cost of nearly Taka 350 crores, overall port activities, especially handling of in and out bound cargo, have enhanced by 30 percent on an average in comparison to the previous time, Omar Faruk said.
Chattogram Port handled more than 11000 TEUs of container on December 1 last.
CPA Secretary said, “We are now able to handle over four million TEUs of container annually.”
Meanwhile, to increase the handling capacity, Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) has taken a step to procure ten cranes at a cost of taka 583 crores. Of them, six Quay Gantry Cranes have already arrived in the port. The operational activities of the Chattogram Port would increase remarkably with the procurement of those ten cranes. The capacity of each of the cranes is 40 tonnes. As the each crane can handle 25 to 32 containers per hour, installation of these cranes will help to cut turn-around time of ships at the port. Following the installation of the cranes, it is possible to handle containers from five gearless ships at a time. It would also help boost the productivity of ships and reduce the average rates of their anchorage periods.
Besides, the Chattogram Port will soon get four more Quay Gantry Cranes from China at a cost of Taka 238.61 crore. Meanwhile, CPA had procured a total of ten container handling equipments including the Rail Mounted Gantry Crane (RMG) and Rubber Tyred Gantry Crane (RTG). The operations of those equipments have been inaugurated by the Shipping Minister on May last at Newmooring Container Terminal (NCT) site.
With the addition of more containers handling equipment, the operations of the Chittagong Port will be easier and smooth. Meanwhile, the government had undertaken a step to procure 51 equipments, including ship-to-shore gantry cranes, for smooth handling of the Port.
Out of 51 equipments 10 would be Rail Mounted gantry cranes, 20 rubber tyred gantry cranes, 10 straddle carriers, one mobile harbour crane, five container movers and four reach stackers. The Chattogram Port, prime sea port of the country, has been languishing with various problems including, shortage of jetties, equipment, and inconsistencies of stakeholders’ organizations. As a result, maritime trade of the country has been badly affected. The annual growth of the Chittagong Port is 20 per cent. But no infrastructural facilities have been created in line with the annual growth rate of the port.
Besides, the Chattogram Port has been facing an acute shortage of equipment. The stakeholders alleged that the Chittagong Port has only 30 per cent equipment against the demand. The Chattogram Port needs at least 12 gantry cranes.
