Matarbari Port is an under-construction

sea port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

on the shores of

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

, located at

Moheshkhali upazila Moheshkhali () is an upazila of Cox's Bazar District in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The government's ambitious project to transform Maheshkhali Island in the Bay of Bengal into a thriving energy hub aims to establish power plants and a liquefied na ...

Cox's Bazar district Cox's Bazar District () is a district in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh. It is named after Cox's Bazar town. It is located south of Chittagong. Cox's Bazar is also known by the names ''Panowa'' ("yellow flower") and ''Palongkee''. T ...

Chittagong Division Chittagong Division (), officially Chattogram Division, is geographically the largest of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It covers the southeasternmost areas of the country, with a total area of and a population according to th ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. Construction of the port began in the late 2010s with the construction of a Captic Jetty for the

Matarbari Power Plant The Matarbari Power Plant is a 1,200 megawatt (2 x 600) coal-fired power station under construction in Maheshkhali Upazila of Cox's Bazar District in southeastern Bangladesh. The coal plant is being built with over $2.4 billion in climate change ...

, and later the

Government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

undertook a project to build a full-fledged commercial port. Once completed, it will be Bangladesh's first

deep-sea port A Panamax port is a deepwater port that can accommodate a fully laden Panamax ship. With the completion of the Panama Canal expansion project in 2016, this list will need to be significantly revised due to larger "post panamax" ships transiting Pa ...

. It is estimated that the cost for the construction of the port in the first phase will be ৳177.77 billion to ৳200.00 billion, including the approach road. The port consists of an artificial harbour, and its navigable channel is surrounded by

Breakwaters A breakwater is a permanent structure constructed at a coastal area to protect against tides, currents, waves, and storm surges. Breakwaters have been built since antiquity to protect anchorages, helping isolate vessels from marine hazards ...

. The harbour has a depth of and can accommodate

panamax Panamax and New Panamax (or Neopanamax) are terms for the size limits for ships traveling through the Panama Canal. The limits and requirements are published by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) in a publication titled "Vessel Requirements". ...

and

capesize Capesize ships are the largest dry cargo ships with ball mark dimension: about 170,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) capacity, long, beam (wide), draught (under water depth). They are too large to transit the Suez Canal ( Suezmax limits) or ...

ships. Cargo will be handled through container berths and multi-purpose cargo berths at the harbour. The port has a navigable channel about long and wide with a depth of , which is the deepest among ports in Bangladesh. The port's draft ranges from about to a maximum of with tidal support, which will allow entry for carrying more than 8,000 TEUs or 100,000 deadweight tons

container ships A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

History

The initiative to build a deep-seaport in Bangladesh was taken in 2009. In 2009, Pacific Consultants International of Japan visited nine potential sites and submitted a survey report recommending the construction of a deep-seaport at Sonadia. As a result, Sonadia island in Cox's Bazar was proposed as the site for setting up the first deep-seaport in Bangladesh. The

approved the Sonadia Island deep-seaport project in 2012, and the first phase is scheduled to be completed in 2016. Funding for the project was discussed with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, but the project fell through when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to China in June 2014 failed to sign a memorandum of understanding for the construction of a deep-seaport at Sonadia. The feasibility of seaport development began when three jetties were constructed to bring in materials for the Matarbari coal-based power plant funded by the Japanese agency

JICA The Japan International Cooperation Agency (), also known as JICA'','' is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social gro ...

. JICA conducted a data collection survey in 2016, which revealed the possibility of developing a commercial port using the channel adjacent to the three jetties. After this survey, the Ministry of Shipping examined the feasibility of developing a seaport in the area and said that it is possible to build a seaport for commercial use. Later, along with the construction of the

Port of Payra The Port of Payra is a seaport located at Kalapara in Patuakhali, Bangladesh. It was established by an Act of Parliament in 2013. The port was officially inaugurated in 2016. It is located on the Ramnabad Channel near the Bay of Bengal. The po ...

Patuakhali Patuakhali ( ''Potuakhali'') is a town and district headquarters of Patuakhali District located on the southern bank of Laukathi river in Barisal Division in Bangladesh. It is the administrative headquarter of Patuakhali district and one of the ...

, the Government of Bangladesh took the plan to construct a deep-seaport at Matarbari. Matarbari sea port was originally built for Matarbari coal-fired power plant then the government decided to turn it into a deep-seaport. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved the construction of the Matarbari port on March 10, 2020. The cost of this project, including ports and connecting roads, is estimated at ৳177.77 billions, of which ৳128.93 billions is collected from Japan as a loan, and the Government of Bangladesh agreed to provide ৳26.71 billions and

Chittagong Port Authority Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) is a government agency of Bangladesh responsible for the management, maintenance and governance of the country's major port of Chittagong, located in the city of Chittagong on the Karnaphuli River nine nautical mi ...

৳22.13 billions. After the approval, design work on the terminal began in July 2020. After the finalization of the design, tenders are issued and notified, and in the tender, two companies jointly led by Pentawashen Construction Company Limited submitted a tender. Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited or CPGCBL dredged a long shipping channel under the coal based power project at Matarbari. As per the original plan, the channel was supposed to be 3 km-long, 250 metres wide and deep; but as per the agreement signed between the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources on 29 November 2018, the depth, length and width of the channel were increased to , and respectively for the construction of Matarbari port. On 29 December 2020, ''MV Venus Triumph'', a 120 metres long general cargo ship, became the first foreign ship to dock at the port. The shipping channel was handed over to the Chittagong Port Authority on 20 September 2023. On 11 November 2023, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the channel and laid the foundation stone of the construction of the terminal. On 25th April 2023, a vessel named ''Ausu Maro'' with a length of and a draft of berthed as the first coal carrier at the coal jetty of

Matarbari power plant The Matarbari Power Plant is a 1,200 megawatt (2 x 600) coal-fired power station under construction in Maheshkhali Upazila of Cox's Bazar District in southeastern Bangladesh. The coal plant is being built with over $2.4 billion in climate change ...

. The vessel was carrying 80,000 metric tonnes of coal for the Matarbari coal-fired power plant, and it was the largest cargo ship berthed at any port jetty in

Development

Based on the Japanese ports of Kashima and Niigata, the port will be the first deep sea port and the fourth sea port in Bangladesh. The port is planned to reduce pressure on the

Port of Chittagong A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

. During the first stage, one long multipurpose terminal and one meter long container terminal is planned to be constructed by 2026. The navigation channel will be length with a maximum permissible draught of . Ships with the capacity of 8,000 TEU containers will be able to dock. In September 2020,

Japan International Cooperation Agency The Japan International Cooperation Agency (), also known as JICA'','' is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social gr ...

won the contract for the consultancy services of Matarbari Port development project. Two contracts were signed by Roads and Highways Department (RHD) with Oriental Consultants Global Company Ltd and by

with Nippon Koei.

Port details

Harbour and navigation channel

The Matarbari port's harbour is an artificial harbour, protected by a sea wall along with a navigation channel. The prescribed water depth for the harbour is ; the maneuvering basin in the middle of the harbor is also deep. The port's navigation channel connects the deep water body of the

to the harbour. It is 14.3 km (8.9 mi) long, and used for ship navigation in the port's harbour. The navigation channel has a depth of and a minimum width of , allowing ships with a draft of to enter and exit the harbour without tidal assistance. Tides of are observed in the harbour and navigation channel, and ships with drafts of 18 m (59 ft) are able to berth at the jetty with tidal support.

Terminals

The first phase of the port includes two terminals—a general cargo multipurpose terminal and a container terminal—with a quay (

wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

) and an inner-bay for tug boats. The height of the deck of

quay A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

is above the water surface, and the total length is 760 meters. In the first phase of construction, the container terminal will be built on 20 hectares and will have a 460-meter long berth or part of quay. It will be able to accommodate 8,000 TEU vessels and will have an annual capacity of 6,00,000 to 1.1 million TEU. Later, the container terminal will be expanded, up to 70 hectares, with a berth, and have a 2.8 million TEU capacity. The multi-purpose terminal will be built on 12 hectares, have a berth, and be able to accommodate vessels with up to 70,000 dwt. The terminal will have an annual cargo handling capacity of 0.6 million tonnes of grain and 1,200 tonnes of steel products.

References

Bibliography

* {{Ports in Bangladesh Ports and harbours of Bangladesh