PCT to be piloted with a bulk carrier

Finally, the Patenga Container Terminal (PCT) at Chittagong Port, the country’s prime export-import gateway, is going to be piloted with a bulk cargo ship.

For the first time ships will arrive on July 21 at this terminal designed for container handling.

The terminal has been constructed at a cost of about Tk1, 400 crore with an international operator hired for the terminal.

Mohammad Omar Faruq, Secretary of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), said for the time being bulk cargo ships will be docked here. Necessary equipment is being sent ‍and this is an experimental operation.

PCT with three berthing jetties and a capacity of 4.5 lakh TEUs container handling annually may increase 12-15 per cent container handling capacity of Chittagong port, which now annually handles 3.2 million TEUs (Twenty Equivalent Units).

Four international companies DP World of the UAE, Red Sea Gateway Terminal, RSGT of Saudi Arabia, PSA Singapore and Adani Port and Special Economic Zone Authority of India have formally proposed to be the operators of the PCT.

Port Secretary Omar Faruq said the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Authority was looking into the recruitment of an international operator.

Until the appointment of an international operator, the port authority here will manage the ship handling operations under its own management.

Although the Patenga terminal began on a trial basis with bulk cargo, before the appointment of operators under the PPP, container ships with gears will also be docked here, he mentioned.

According to port sources, construction of three jetties at the 600-meter-long PCT has been completed but some work on its yard is still pending.

At this terminal ships with a draft of 10.5 meters will be able to dock, which is not possible at any other jetties in the port.