Bangladesh Bay Terminal
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Bay Terminal is a proposed terminal, which would handle coal, among other commodities, in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Location
The Bay terminal has been proposed on a 1,200 acre island in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Patenga in the city’s Halishahar Ananda Bazar area. It is near the Chittagong Port and Chittagong Export Processing Zone, shown in the map below.[1]
Background
The Bay Terminal was proposed to deal with capacity limits at the nearby Chittagong Port. The maximum draft of Chittagong Port is 9.2 meters, requiring smaller ships be used to transport cargo to and from big ocean freighters that are anchored in the bay. In response, the construction of a new port has been proposed near the Chittagong Port, dubbed the Bay Terminal. The Bay Terminal would not technically be a deep sea port – as its maximum draft would be up to 13 or 14 meters, rather than the 15 needed to be granted this designation – but it would allow for larger ships to come directly into port. As early as 2010, China was publicly invited to get on board with the project, and at one point the country pledged US$9 billion toward the endeavor.[2]
The Bay Terminal would have two Dolphin jetties – one for handling coal to be imported for coal-fired plants in Bangladesh and the other for handling cement clinkers.[3]
In August 2016, the Chittagong Port Authority appointed a joint venture (JV) comprised of two German firms – Sellhorn Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH and HPC Hamburg Port Consulting GmbH – and Bangladeshi firm KS Consultants Limited to conduct the feasibility study. The JV submitted the report and a master plan in 2017, describing the project as economically and technically viable.[4]
In 2017, it was disclosed at the 11th meeting of the Advisory Committee of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) that the Bay Terminal was in the top priority list of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, with a proposed commissioning by 2021.[5] According to the Bangladesh ministry, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to finance the project.[6]
In August 2021, the Bangladesh government set a target to complete the construction work of Bay Terminal and make it operational by 2024. The Bay Terminal is expected to have three terminals to handle up to three dozen vessels of 5,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) each. It would enhance the Chittagong port’s handling capacity by an additional three million TEU.[7][4]
Of the three terminals, the Chittagong port authority will build one and international port contractors will be the other two. An earlier decision was that all three terminals would be constructed by foreign contractors.[7]
As of August 2021, a consulting firm was updating the feasibility study report and the master plan prepared in 2017. In addition, 275,000m² of privately-owned land had been acquired while the acquisition of 3.2km² of government land was underway. The "earth filling works" for construction of a "container storage yard" were reportedly already completed.[7]
The government selected PSA Singapore to construct one of the two terminals. Dubai-based DP World was asked to submit a detailed project proposal for the second terminal.[7]
The work for at least one terminal is funded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector funding arm of the World Bank.[7] According to Joint Secretary (Planning) of the Shipping Ministry, Rafique Ahmed Siddique, “The World Bank received Government of Bangladesh’s indicative financing request of US$350 million for the construction of breakwater and navigation access channel on April 13, 2021. The Bank confirmed intension to finance on the project. However, the project cost will be confirmed after the feasibility study.”[8]
The construction is expected to begin in early 2023. [9]
According to an article published in July 2024, the Master Plan of Bay Terminal will include its fourth terminal, an oil terminal. The Master Plan wrote that the construction of Bay Terminal is scheduled to begin in the middle of 2024, targeting to partial operation in 2026.[10]
Project Details
- Sponsor: Chittagong Port Authority
- Location: Patenga, Chittagong district, Chittagong division, Bangladesh
- Coal Capacity (Million tonnes per annum):
- Status: Proposed, scheduled to begin construction in 2024
- Start year: 2024
- Type: Imports
- Source of Coal:
- Source of financing: International Finance Corporation
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ "Bay Terminal," Google Maps, accessed September 2021
- ↑ "Bangladesh's Deep Sea Port Problem," The Diplomat, June 7, 2016
- ↑ "Chittagong Port Authority taken various projects to boost capacity of Chittagong Port," Focus, June 20, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Bay Terminal project to gather pace," The Daily Star, August 20, 2021
- ↑ "Bay terminal at Patenga in PM's priority list," CMA CGM, March 27, 2017
- ↑ "Govt to drop 5 projects," The Independent, January 9, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 "Bangladesh sets target to build Bay Terminal by 2024," Container News, August 20, 2021
- ↑ "WB to support CPA to construct Bay Terminal’s non-revenue portion," The Independent, July 18, 2021
- ↑ Bay Terminal construction begins in early 2023, Business Standard, 21 September, 2022
- ↑ Bay Terminal to expand with new oil terminal, Financial Express, Jul 25, 2024
