A Correspondent :
The Chittagong Port Authority from Friday has increased draft and length levels of the vessels from 9.2 metres to 9.5 metres and 186 metres to 190 metres respectively allowing the entrance of the larger vessels to make the port more dynamic.
As a result, if any ship of 9.5 metre draft and 190 metre length arrives in the Chittagong Port from today, it will be directly able to anchor in the jetties from today (Saturday).
The capacity of cargo handling of the Chittagong Port will be enhanced due to increase of Length over All (LOA) during the current month.
Earlier, the vessels of 9.2 metre draft and 186 metre long could take berth in the jetties of the Chittagong Port. So, the larger vessels had to anchor at the Outer Anchorage and the cargo had been lightered that was an expensive for the stakeholders of the port.
The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) sources said the extension of LOA has been possible due to the dredging conducted by the CPA recently.
Sources said the navigational channel of the port in front of the River Karnaphuli has increased due to the effective dredging.
It may be mentioned that the CPA is carried out regular dredging in the jetty areas and the navigational channel to keep the channel navigable.
According to a survey of JICA about 15 years back said that the Chittagong Port had no capacity to give space for the mother vessels with draft more than 9 metre in the CPA jetties.
Moreover, mother vessels with more than 10 to 12 metre draft had to anchor at the Outer Anchorage of the port in the Bay of Bengal.
Even a crude carrier with more than 1.20 lakh tons of crude had to anchor near the Kutubdia Island, in the deep sea of the Bay of Bengal as it could not proceed towards the outer Anchorage of the Chittagong Port, the survey added.
The mother vessels with 12 metre draft can move in the outer anchorage, in the Bay of Bengal, of the Chittagong Port.
The vessels with draft more than 12 metre cannot enter into the Bay within the jurisdiction of the Chittagong Port as the depth of Outer Anchorage is not more than 12 metre. As a result, small types of mother vessels with only 9 metre draft in calling at the Chittagong Port.
