Chittagong Port has advanced further in container handling among 100 container handling ports around the globe.The port now stands at 71 as per a list to be published within next few days by Lloyds Magazine, one of the most influential shipping publications in the world. The Lloyds last year placed Chittagong Port at 76 in container handling, Chairman of Chittagong Port Authority Rear Admiral M Khaled Iqbal said today. He said this record will further enhance image of the port in global shipping. The Lloyds Magazine conducts its survey every year on the basis of performance in container handling, volume of cargo handled, quality of service and other criteria.Chittagong Port first appeared in the Lloyds List in 2008 at 98. The position of the country’s prime maritime port remained static in the following few years but it was elevated to 90th in 2013, 87th in 2015 and 76th in 2016. Karachi Port is lagging four steps behind Chittagong Port this year.Container handling in the Chittagong Port is growing at 15 per cent per annum, sources said. In 2016 the port handled over 2.346 million TEUs (twenty foot equivalent unit) of containers, the highest in its history. Meanwhile, Chittagong Port on Friday laid the foundation of its Patenga Container Terminal in between Chittagong Dry Dock and Boat Club with 26 acres of backup facilities and 600-metre long jetty facilities.Shipping Minister M Shajahan Khan inaugurated the groundbreaking of the container terminal in the morning at a ceremony organised in the Coal Depot area at Patenga on the west bank of the Karnaphuli River near Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport.The minister also inaugurated the newly procured four rubber tyred gantry cranes (RTG cranes) and 42 other equipment of cargo and container handling at the yard of New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT).Other equipment include four high straddle carriers, four loaded container handling reach stackers, four empty container handling forklift trucks, five container movers, four telehandlers, 10 five-tonne capacity low-mast forklift trucks, 10 five-tonne capacity high-mast forklift trucks and one log handler. Most of these equipment including RTG gantry cranes were procured from China while others from Poland, France and Germany over the last nine months, port officials said. The construction work of the container terminal will start within 15 days. Bangladesh Army Engineering Corps gets the job to construct the terminal.MA Latif, MP addressed the groundbreaking ceremony as the special guest. President of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mahbubul Alam and head of Bangladesh Army Engineering Corps Major General Siddiqur Rahman Sarkar also spoke on the occasion while Prof Dr Ashraf Ali of BUET presented the details on Patenga Container Terminal (PCT).CCCI president Mahbubul Alam thanked the port authority and the government for taking up the projects for building Patenga Container Terminal and Laldia Multipurpose Terminal. He said these terminals will meet interim demand but ultimately Bay Container Terminal will need to be built soon to meet the growing demand from local and regional port users.Major General Siddiqur Rahman Sarkar gave a brief description of different successful national mega projects implemented by the Bangladesh Army and said Patenga Container Terminal will be completed within the stipulated time. Presided over by Chairman of Chittagong Port Authority Rear Admiral M Khaled Iqbal, the ceremony was attended, among others, by president of Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Khalilur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association Nurul Quayyum Khan, GOC of Chittagong Cantonment Major General Jahangir Alam, Joint Secretary of Shipping Ministry Tariqul Islam, C&F Agents Association president Akhtar Hossain, vice president of CMCCI AM Mahbub Chowdhury, Member (engineering) of CPA Zulfiquer Ali, Member (admin and planning) of CPA Zafar Alam, managing director of Saif Powertec Tarafdar Ruhul Amin and representatives of different trade groups and port users.Terming Chittagong Port the ‘heart’ of the country’s economy, the shipping minister said the port will continue to be the leading seaport of Bangladesh. The present government has extended all-out support for expansion of the port, its yard facilities and installation of cargo and container handling equipment, he said.The government of Sheikh Hasina has also taken up projects to dredge all canals of the country at a cost of Tk 114.70 billion, he said, adding that 20,400 kilometres of river channels lost their courses in the past, but this government has restarted the countrywide river dredging which was initiated by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Bangabandhu bought seven dredgers for dredging the rivers, he said, adding that the Sheikh Hasina government also procured 14 dredgers during 2009-13 while the government did not procure a single dredger before that period. He said the Mongla Port had totally lost its navigability due to lack of dredging but the present government procured two dredgers in 2012 which are engaged in dredging at the Mongla Port alongside other dredgers in the private sector.He said the present government has engaged the armed forces of the country in the nation-building activities for the welfare of the people but the BNP government used them to implement their evil design that was anti-people.Malaysia’s former president Mahathir Mohammed made his poor country rich and Sheikh Hasina will again come to power and make Bangladesh rich like Malaysia through implementation of her mission and vision. He also urged BNP to take part in the upcoming national election in 2019.Member of the Standing Committee on Shipping Ministry MA Latif MP said businesses are suffering a lot due to lack of expected cargo handling capacity in the port. He also held the previous administration of the port responsible for it.He said the present chairman of the Chittagong Port Authority has procured 55 equipment for the port while the former chairmen procured only 45 equipment in seven to eight years. The ruling party lawmaker said cargo handling in the Chittagong Port is growing at 18 per cent per year while the container handling growth is 15 per cent. The port has added only seven jetties since independence while it was supposed to have much more in the context of its potentiality and trade growth. CPA Chairman Rear Admiral M Khaled Iqbal said the capacity building of the port is very much essential in view of import of heavy cargo for different mega projects including the Karnaphuli Tunnel. So, the CPA has undertaken the projects to improve jetty facilities, yard facilities and import of huge equipment for cargo and container handling. The CPA is also working to enhance efficiency and strengthening of automation in all spheres of port activity.
