Bangladesh has signed a 15-year concession agreement with UAE-based DP World to operate and maintain the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) and its overflow container yard at Chattogram port.
Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) Chairman Rear Admiral S M Moniruzzaman and DP World Chairman Essa Kazim signed the agreement at the CPA headquarters on 8 October. The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, acted as transaction adviser.
The terminal
Built in 2007 at a cost of about Tk 2,000 crore, the NCT has five jetties and 14 of the port’s 18 quay-side gantry cranes. It handles more than 40 percent of Chattogram’s container traffic. The CPA retains ownership of the terminal, its land and infrastructure.
A long road to signing
The process to bring in an international operator began in 2019 and received in-principle approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in March 2023. It stalled earlier this year amid opposition and a workers’ strike before the current government resumed negotiations.
The government says the deal will cut vessel turnaround and container dwell times and lower logistics costs for exporters. Critics, including the Chattogram Port Protection Committee, have opposed foreign operation of the terminal.
Sources: The Daily Star, Maritime Gateway.
Photo: Moheen Reeyad / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
