State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury has reiterated that the Matarbari deep-sea port will be operational in 2026.
He was responding to a tabled question placed by Awami League lawmaker from the Mymensingh-11 constituency, Kazim Uddin Ahmed, at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on Sunday.
The construction work of jetty and container yard will start by next July, the junior minister added.
Khalid made a similar statement in mid-January when he hoped for a part of the Chattogram port's Bay Terminal to become operational from early 2026 while the Matarbari deep-sea port either from the middle or end of that year.
The Matarbari Deep-sea Port Development Project is being implemented with the financing of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The CPA completed the process of acquiring 1,225 acres of land for construction of the port at Moheshkhali. In the first phase, a total of 283 acres of land were acquired. A coal jetty, a storage yard and an ash pond will be built .
The JICA agreed to finance the project with the investment of more than 500 million US dollars .
At the port, mother vessels with more than 16-metre draft will be able to berth. Currently at the Chittagong Port jetties, the vessels with only 9.5 metre draft can berth. The container vessel with only 2400 TEUs of container can berth at the CPA jetties. At the deep-sea port, the vessels carrying more than 8000 TEUs of container will be able to berth. Already the construction of a 14.3km long, 250m wide and 18.5m deep channel for the port is completed. The work to widen the channel by another 100 metres is underway.
The channel will enable ships with a capacity of 80,000 tonnes to sail in. It will look like the Kashima Port in Japan.
The deep-sea port was originally targeted for the Matarbari coal-fired power plant. Then the government decided to turn it into a deep-sea port.
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