Business Desk :
Chittagong Port has advanced further in container handling among 100 container handling ports around the globe. The port now stands at 71 as per a list to be published within next few days by Lloyds Magazine, one of the most influential shipping publications in the world. The Lloyds last year placed Chittagong Port at 76 in container handling, Chairman of Chittagong Port Authority Rear Admiral M Khaled Iqbal said on Friday. He said this record will further enhance image of the port in global shipping.
The Lloyds Magazine conducts its survey every year on the basis of performance in container handling, volume of cargo handled, quality of service and other criteria. Chittagong Port first appeared in the Lloyds List in 2008 at 98. The position of the country’s prime maritime port remained static in the following few years but it was elevated to 90th in 2013, 87th in 2015 and 76th in 2016. Karachi Port is lagging four steps behind Chittagong Port this year. Container handling in the Chittagong Port is growing at 15 per cent per annum, sources said.
In 2016 the port handled over 2.346 million TEUs (twenty foot equivalent unit) of containers, the highest in its history. Meanwhile, Chittagong Port on Friday laid the foundation of its Patenga Container Terminal in between Chittagong Dry Dock and Boat Club with 26 acres of backup facilities and 600-metre long jetty facilities. Shipping Minister M Shajahan Khan inaugurated the groundbreaking of the container terminal in the morning at a ceremony organised in the Coal Depot area at Patenga on the west bank of the Karnaphuli River near Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport. The minister also inaugurated the newly procured four rubber tyred gantry cranes (RTG cranes) and 42 other equipment of cargo and container handling at the yard of New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT).
Other equipment include four high straddle carriers, four loaded container handling reach stackers, four empty container handling forklift trucks, five container movers, four telehandlers, 10 five-tonne capacity low-mast forklift trucks, 10 five-tonne capacity high-mast forklift trucks and one log handler. Most of these equipment including RTG gantry cranes were procured from China while others from Poland, France and Germany over the last nine months, port officials said. The construction work of the container terminal will start within 15 days. Bangladesh Army Engineering Corps gets the job to construct the terminal.MA Latif, MP addressed the groundbreaking ceremony as the special guest.
President of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mahbubul Alam and head of Bangladesh Army Engineering Corps Major General Siddiqur Rahman Sarkar also spoke on the occasion while Prof Dr Ashraf Ali of BUET presented the details on Patenga Container Terminal (PCT).CCCI president Mahbubul Alam thanked the port authority and the government for taking up the projects for building Patenga Container Terminal and Laldia Multipurpose Terminal. He said these terminals will meet interim demand but ultimately Bay Container Terminal will need to be built soon to meet the growing demand from local and regional port users.
Major General Siddiqur Rahman Sarkar gave a brief description of different successful national mega projects implemented by the Bangladesh Army and said Patenga Container Terminal will be completed within the stipulated time. Presided over by Chairman of Chittagong Port Authority Rear Admiral M Khaled Iqbal, the ceremony was attended, among others, by president of Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Khalilur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association Nurul Quayyum Khan, GOC of Chittagong Cantonment Major General Jahangir Alam, Joint Secretary of Shipping Ministry Tariqul Islam, C&F Agents Association president Akhtar Hossain, vice president of CMCCI AM Mahbub Chowdhury, Member (engineering) of CPA Zulfiquer Ali, Member (admin and planning) of CPA Zafar Alam, managing director of Saif Powertec Tarafdar Ruhul Amin and representatives of different trade groups and port users.
Terming Chittagong Port the ‘heart’ of the country’s economy, the shipping minister said the port will continue to be the leading seaport of Bangladesh. The present government has extended all-out support for expansion of the port, its yard facilities and installation of cargo and container handling equipment, he said.
Chittagong Port has advanced further in container handling among 100 container handling ports around the globe. The port now stands at 71 as per a list to be published within next few days by Lloyds Magazine, one of the most influential shipping publications in the world. The Lloyds last year placed Chittagong Port at 76 in container handling, Chairman of Chittagong Port Authority Rear Admiral M Khaled Iqbal said on Friday. He said this record will further enhance image of the port in global shipping.
The Lloyds Magazine conducts its survey every year on the basis of performance in container handling, volume of cargo handled, quality of service and other criteria. Chittagong Port first appeared in the Lloyds List in 2008 at 98. The position of the country’s prime maritime port remained static in the following few years but it was elevated to 90th in 2013, 87th in 2015 and 76th in 2016. Karachi Port is lagging four steps behind Chittagong Port this year. Container handling in the Chittagong Port is growing at 15 per cent per annum, sources said.
In 2016 the port handled over 2.346 million TEUs (twenty foot equivalent unit) of containers, the highest in its history. Meanwhile, Chittagong Port on Friday laid the foundation of its Patenga Container Terminal in between Chittagong Dry Dock and Boat Club with 26 acres of backup facilities and 600-metre long jetty facilities. Shipping Minister M Shajahan Khan inaugurated the groundbreaking of the container terminal in the morning at a ceremony organised in the Coal Depot area at Patenga on the west bank of the Karnaphuli River near Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport. The minister also inaugurated the newly procured four rubber tyred gantry cranes (RTG cranes) and 42 other equipment of cargo and container handling at the yard of New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT).
Other equipment include four high straddle carriers, four loaded container handling reach stackers, four empty container handling forklift trucks, five container movers, four telehandlers, 10 five-tonne capacity low-mast forklift trucks, 10 five-tonne capacity high-mast forklift trucks and one log handler. Most of these equipment including RTG gantry cranes were procured from China while others from Poland, France and Germany over the last nine months, port officials said. The construction work of the container terminal will start within 15 days. Bangladesh Army Engineering Corps gets the job to construct the terminal.MA Latif, MP addressed the groundbreaking ceremony as the special guest.
President of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mahbubul Alam and head of Bangladesh Army Engineering Corps Major General Siddiqur Rahman Sarkar also spoke on the occasion while Prof Dr Ashraf Ali of BUET presented the details on Patenga Container Terminal (PCT).CCCI president Mahbubul Alam thanked the port authority and the government for taking up the projects for building Patenga Container Terminal and Laldia Multipurpose Terminal. He said these terminals will meet interim demand but ultimately Bay Container Terminal will need to be built soon to meet the growing demand from local and regional port users.
Major General Siddiqur Rahman Sarkar gave a brief description of different successful national mega projects implemented by the Bangladesh Army and said Patenga Container Terminal will be completed within the stipulated time. Presided over by Chairman of Chittagong Port Authority Rear Admiral M Khaled Iqbal, the ceremony was attended, among others, by president of Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Khalilur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association Nurul Quayyum Khan, GOC of Chittagong Cantonment Major General Jahangir Alam, Joint Secretary of Shipping Ministry Tariqul Islam, C&F Agents Association president Akhtar Hossain, vice president of CMCCI AM Mahbub Chowdhury, Member (engineering) of CPA Zulfiquer Ali, Member (admin and planning) of CPA Zafar Alam, managing director of Saif Powertec Tarafdar Ruhul Amin and representatives of different trade groups and port users.
Terming Chittagong Port the ‘heart’ of the country’s economy, the shipping minister said the port will continue to be the leading seaport of Bangladesh. The present government has extended all-out support for expansion of the port, its yard facilities and installation of cargo and container handling equipment, he said.
