Mongla Port is expanding its infrastructure and boosting connectivity to better handle the domestic exim traffic and transhipment of goods from India, Nepal and Bhutan
Mongla Port, the second major seaport in Bangladesh is expected to witness a rise in traffic in the coming years. Located in south-western part of the country, the port is set to see a connectivity boost by rail in the next two years. As the Padma bridge gets ready by next year road connectivity from capital Dhaka will also get better. The new connectivity options will make the port much busier and realising this the government has taken up projects for enhancing its capacity. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, chaired by Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved a $710 million project for construction of two container terminals, one container handling yard, one container delivery yard, and extension of a service jetty, yard and sheds, among others. The capacity boost will make the port capable of handling the domestic export-import trade and transhipment goods traffic from India, Nepal and Bhutan smoothly.
India and Bangladesh had signed a MoU on the use of Chattogram and Mongla ports in 2015. The MoU envisages transit of goods from Mongla Port to north eastern states of India through waterways, roads and railways. On completion the project will significantly boost connectivity in the BBIN region. India has extended a line of credit for the expansion of the Mongla Port capacity. Out of the total estimated project cost of Tk 6,014 crore, India will provide Tk 4459 crore equivalent to $530 million as Line of Credit for the project.
Rear Admiral Sheikh Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad, Chairman, Mongla Port said completion of the project will enhance Mongla’s container handling capacity to 0.4 million teus and cargo handling capacity will be doubled to 30 million tonnes. The new container delivery yard will add capacity by 93,000 square meters and container handling yard will add capacity by 101,000 square meters. Two more jetties are being constructed at the port which will help enhance container handling capacity to 0.8 million teus by 2025.
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved procurement of three mobile harbour cranes having capacity to handle 14-row containers, two tier-mounted multi-purpose cranes, and two mobile harbour cranes of fiver-meter working radius. German company Liebherr-MCCtec Rostock GmbH and its local agent Maxon Power Ltd will supply the cranes at a cost of $28 million.
The port presently has six straddle carriers, two heavy duty forklift trucks, three empty container handlers, twenty four forklift trucks, two reach stackers, six mobile cranes, five dock site cranes, and sixteen terminal tractors. With these equipment in hand the port has capacity to handle some 0.1 million Teus of containers and 15 million tonnes of bulk cargos.
Mongla port’s capacity currently remains underutilized. In fiscal year 2018-19 the port handled 57,732 teus of export-import containers and 1.13 million tonnes of bulk cargos, registering a significant growth. The port’s ship handling also increased significantly in the year.
