Chittagong Bureau :
The state-owned New Mooring Container Terminal(NCT) of Chittagong Port, which has remained unutilised for the last 10 years after its inauguration, will begin its full operation in January next.The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has already completed all formalities to procure container handling equipment at a cost of Taka 1,200 crore, port sources said.
The NCT has been constructed at a cost of Taka 737 crore with a 1,000 metre long berth and backup facilities on 65 acres of land with a view to increasing trend of containerization in the maritime trade.
The government undertook the project in 2000. According to the project schedule, it was supposed to be commissioned in 2005, but the construction was completed in 2007.
The CPA authority could not run the NCT after its inception due to a tug of war between a vested interest group and the Chittagong Port Authority, the source added.
With the beginning of the full operation of the terminal, the CPA will be able to handle over seven lakh TEUs annually, added the sources.
The existing facilities of the Chittagong Port are inadequate to handle the future container traffic, said the sources, adding that the one-kilometre long New Mooring Container Terminal with huge backyard facilities will double the cargo handling capacity of the port in future. The port authority has already completed procurement procedures of 17 rubber tyred gantry cranes, four straddle carrier, five container movers, six key gantry cranes, four reach stackers and one rail mounted gantry crane at a cost of Taka 1,160 crore, said Mohammad Jafar Alam, member admin of Chittagong Port.
“The authority has already given work order to supply equipment and most of the equipment will add in the current year and we shall be able to inaugurate the biggest NCT in the country by January next year,” he added.
Currently, a total of 12 container ships can take berth at a time, but the arrival of the container vessels in the Chittagong Port is rapidly increasing with the rapid global containerisation in the maritime trade, port sources said.
The state-owned New Mooring Container Terminal(NCT) of Chittagong Port, which has remained unutilised for the last 10 years after its inauguration, will begin its full operation in January next.The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has already completed all formalities to procure container handling equipment at a cost of Taka 1,200 crore, port sources said.
The NCT has been constructed at a cost of Taka 737 crore with a 1,000 metre long berth and backup facilities on 65 acres of land with a view to increasing trend of containerization in the maritime trade.
The government undertook the project in 2000. According to the project schedule, it was supposed to be commissioned in 2005, but the construction was completed in 2007.
The CPA authority could not run the NCT after its inception due to a tug of war between a vested interest group and the Chittagong Port Authority, the source added.
With the beginning of the full operation of the terminal, the CPA will be able to handle over seven lakh TEUs annually, added the sources.
The existing facilities of the Chittagong Port are inadequate to handle the future container traffic, said the sources, adding that the one-kilometre long New Mooring Container Terminal with huge backyard facilities will double the cargo handling capacity of the port in future. The port authority has already completed procurement procedures of 17 rubber tyred gantry cranes, four straddle carrier, five container movers, six key gantry cranes, four reach stackers and one rail mounted gantry crane at a cost of Taka 1,160 crore, said Mohammad Jafar Alam, member admin of Chittagong Port.
“The authority has already given work order to supply equipment and most of the equipment will add in the current year and we shall be able to inaugurate the biggest NCT in the country by January next year,” he added.
Currently, a total of 12 container ships can take berth at a time, but the arrival of the container vessels in the Chittagong Port is rapidly increasing with the rapid global containerisation in the maritime trade, port sources said.
