The government plans maintenance dredging of the Rabnabad channel and the purchase of two trailing suction hopper dredgers to restore navigability at Payra port, Shipping Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam told parliament on 10 June 2026, UNB reported.
Capital and maintenance dredging completed in April 2024 had allowed vessels up to 225 metres long with a 10.5-metre draught and up to 45,000 tonnes to reach the port, but navigability has since declined because the sediment-prone channel lacks regular maintenance dredging. “Bangladesh is an active delta,” the minister said.
The Payra Port Authority has prepared a proposal to cut costs through performance-based dredging and build its own dredging capacity. The revised development project proposal is under review at the shipping ministry before going to ECNEC. Two coal-fired power plants with a combined 2,640 MW capacity in the Payra area depend on the channel for coal deliveries. If approved, the port should handle vessels up to 220 metres, 10.5 metres draught and 45,000 tonnes by 2027-28.
Source
- UNB: “Payra Port to get maintenance dredging, two new dredgers to restore navigability” (10 June 2026)
File photo: an earlier Rabnabad channel dredging contract signing. Photo: Press Information Department / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
This article is a summary prepared by Maritime News BD from the report(s) listed above; it was not independently reported by Maritime News BD.
