Vessel with record draft berths at Matarbari Port

Bangladesh’s maritime trade sector witnessed history on Tuesday with the berthing of larger vessel with record draft.

MV Owusu Maru, a 229-metre long Panama flag carrier with 12.5m draft carrying 67,000 tonnes of coal loaded from Tara-han in Indonesia, berthed at Coal Jetty of Matarbari Terminal at 3:42pm on Tuesday, according to the Chattogram Port Au-thority (CPA).

The CPA and Matarbari Port department have ensured all facilities for smooth berthing of the larger vessel with deep draft.

Meanwhile, Japan will provide $811 million for the tranche of the Matarbari Port Development Project.

In this regard, a loan agreement for the project was signed between Bangladesh and Japan at the Economic Relations Divi-sion (ERD) on March 29. The Matarbari Port is being built in Maheshkhali at a cost of Tk 17,777 crore.

The Matarbari deep sea port is expected to become operational in 2026.