The construction of the Bay Terminal, a long-awaited project of the Chittagong port, is gaining momentum after slowing down due to the coronavirus pandemic as the government looks to complete it by 2024.

Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, state minister for shipping, said the government had set the time frame to start the operation of the terminal.

He was speaking to reporters after visiting the project site on the Halishahar coast in the port city yesterday. Senior officials of the ministry and the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Authority accompanied him.

The terminal is being constructed on around 2,500 acres of land. It will have a length of 6.15 kilometres, stretching from the backside of the Chattogram Export Processing Zone to Rasmonighat at the Halishahar coast of the Bay of Bengal.

The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) came up with the plan a decade ago.

Talks on the Bay Terminal began in 2011 as the prospect of building a mega container terminal emerged after an 11km natural island surfaced from the seabed near the Halishahar coast, creating a natural channel for vessel movement.

In August 2016, the CPA appointed a joint venture comprised of two German firms — Sellhorn Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH and HPC Hamburg Port Consulting GmbH — and a Bangladeshi firm KS Consultants Limited to conduct the feasibility study.

The JV submitted the report and a master plan in 2017, describing the project economically and technically viable.  Though the business community has long been demanding for the beginning of the project as part of the much-needed expansion of the country’s premier seaport, it got delayed.

Chowdhury said it was initially decided that one single firm would build the whole terminal under the PPP model.

To speed up the implementation, the project has now been divided into three parts. The CPA will build one part on its own.

The CPA will construct a multi-purpose terminal, while two container terminals will be set up under the PPP model.

Five international port giants, including PSA Singapore, China Merchants Sports Holding Company Ltd, DP World of the UAE, and International Port Development Co-operation of Korea, have expressed interest in funding and constructing the mega project.

Some changes have to be brought to the original plan after the latest decision that the CPA would implement a part of the project, the state minister said.

After completing the official procedures, the CPA would commence the construction work, he said.

The acquisition of 68 acres of privately-owned land has been completed. In addition, the shipping ministry has approved the acquisition of 804 acres of government land.

“Land development activities on the acquired area are going on,” Chowdhury said.

He said the project saw slower than expected progress due to a lack of experience in the construction of projects under the PPP model and also for the pandemic.

Many foreign investors earlier visited the project site and expressed interest to set up the terminal. With the resumption of global connectivity, the government has started communicating with the investors again.

“Discussion with the foreign investors is going on,” said Sultana Afroz, chief executive officer of the PPP Authority.

CPA Chairman M Shahjahan said it had appointed a consultant to carry out the detailed design of the terminal it would build.

The firm will also update the 2017 feasibility study report and the master plan. After getting the report, the CPA will formulate the development project proposal and start construction accordingly.

CPA Chief Hydrographer M Arifur Rahman said vessel movement to and fro the Chittagong port through the Karnaphuli channel depended on high tides.

“But vessel operation at the proposed Bay Terminal will be possible round the clock.”

According to the feasibility study, vessels with a draft up to 12 metres can be berthed. The port now allows vessels with as high as 9.5 metres of the draft to moor.

“The new island will ensure safe vessel movement in the channel,” said Rahman.