PM to open Matarbari deep seaport channel on Nov 11

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will formally inaugurate the Matarbari deep seaport channel at Maheshkhali in Cox’s Bazar after 52 years of independence.

She is scheduled to inaugurate the deep seaport channel on November 11 as the port is expected to start its operations in 2026.

Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has taken all-out preparations for the opening of the channel that was acquired from Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL), said CPA Secretary Omar Faruk.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will also lay the foundation stone for the construction of the first terminal of the deep seaport.

The construction of 460-metre long container jetty and 300-metre long multipurpose jetty with an 18.5-meter draft (underwater part of the ship) and various port facilities, including a container yard, will begin on that day.

This development will enable 8000 to 10,000 container ships to enter directly the jetty.

Abul Kalam Azad, managing director of the CPGCBL, said officially the company has already handed over the Matarbari deep sea port channel to the CPA Chairman Rear Admiral Mohammad Sohail on September 20.

The state-owned CPGCBL has already constructed channels and two jetties as part of the coal power project to pass 120 ships through this channel for the coal-fired power plants.

Matarbari Port Development Project aimed at establishing the nation’s first and sole deep sea port, was undertaken at a cost of around Tk17,777 crore with a project duration extending until December 31, 2026.

According to the agreement between the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources signed on November 29 in 2018, for the construction of Matarbari Port, the width of the channel has been increased by 100-metre to 350-metre.