Milestone 100th vessel handling at Matarbari Jetty, Cox's Bazar
Port officials say it is positive for the economy
The 100th ship arrived at Matarbari jetty of Maheshkhali upazila of Cox's Bazar on 24 August, carrying 572.640 tonnes of goods for the Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal-Fired Power Project from China.
The Panama-flagged ship Hosei Fortune docked at Matarbari jetty at 4:40pm on Wednesday.
The Matarbari jetty thus attained the milestone of its handling of the 100th vessel. The Chattogram Port Authorities (CPA) and traders said it was a historic event for the port and the economy of Bangladesh.
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News of the arrival of the 100th ship before the construction of the Matarbari deep sea port will create a good image of Bangladesh in the international maritime sector, they said.
According to the port authorities, about 1.17lakh metric tonnes of goods have arrived at the Matarbari jetty so far in 100 ships.
As a result, Chattogram port has received revenue of Tk2.8 crore in various sectors, including tugboat, piloting and port views.
If these products had come to Matarbari through lighter ships after unloading at Chattogram port, additional expenses would have amounted to about $6 million for shipping demurrage, unloading of goods and lighter ship rental. Now $6.7 lakh have been saved in the cost of the electricity project due to the direct arrival of ships at the jetty near the power plant.
CPA Secretary Md Omar Farooq told TBS that the overall activities of this port are being monitored through the Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) of Chattogram Port.
According to the CPA, during the visit of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to Japan in 2014, following the announcement of the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (BIG-B) Initiative by the Japanese Prime Minister regarding the development of the south-eastern region of Bangladesh, the coal power project was taken up at Matarbari in Maheshkhali Upazila of Cox's Bazar. Later, the government undertook various projects, including the building of a commercial port in Matarbari.
Work on the construction of the jetty began in August 2015.
On 29th December 2020, the first ship arrived at the jetty, bringing 736 tonnes of machinery from Indonesia.
Later, when the second jetty was built, the first ship arrived there on 15 July 2021. Ships from Singapore, carrying equipment for the water treatment plant, arrived at the second jetty of Matarbari.
Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mahbubul Alam told TBS that ships are coming to Matarbari jetty one after another, which is undoubtedly positive news. This number should exceed a thousand. However, it should be ensured that all the development projects of the port, including the Matarbari port construction project, are completed within the right time.
Abul Kalam Azad, executive director of the Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited, told The Business Standard that till now 62% of the power project work has been completed.
