Construction of two new jetties and a modern container yard at Mongla Port formally began on Thursday, 5 November, when Prime Minister Tarique Rahman laid the foundation stone at the port’s Jetty No. 9 at 11am.
The project, titled “Expansion and Modernisation of Mongla Port Facilities”, is planned over four years at a cost of US$335.78 million, about Tk 4,090 crore at Tk 122 to the dollar.
What will be built
- Jetties No. 10 and 11, with a container loading and unloading yard
- A dangerous-goods yard and 49 pieces of handling equipment
- Loaded and empty container yards, internal roads, an administrative building and a container freight station (CFS), across roughly 227,000 square metres
Capacity boost
Once complete, the port expects to handle 30 container moves an hour and reach an annual capacity of 400,000 TEU. The port authority also expects more storage space and lower cargo-handling costs.
Financing timeline
- 2 February 2025: ECNEC approved the project
- 25 March 2025: Mongla Port Authority signed the commercial contract with Chinese contractor CCECC
- 10 October 2026: the government signed a loan agreement of about Tk 3,593 crore with China Exim Bank
The ceremony was chaired by Mongla Port Authority chairman Rear Admiral Arif Ahmed Mostafa. Shipping, road transport and railways minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam, state minister for shipping Md Rajib Ahsan, state minister for environment Sheikh Faridul Islam, Invest Bangladesh chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, shipping secretary Md Ataur Rahman Khan and representatives of the Chinese companies involved were present.
Translated and rewritten from reporting by Ajker Patrika (Bangla), 5 November 2026. See also our earlier report: Mongla to break ground on new container terminal.
Photo: Representative image: a ship at Mongla Port (2017). Abdullah Al Noman / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
