Construction work of the Deep Sea Port in Matarbari area of Cox's Bazar district is going on in full gear now after a halt due to coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent lockdown.
An official having full knowledge of the Tk 177.75 billion (Tk 17,775 crore) fast-track project, said the construction of the 'dream project' Deep Sea Port will be completed in 2025.
"After lifting of the pandemic-induced lockdown last year, the work is continuing without any break now and the construction is likely to be ended within 2025," he said.
Contacted, Member of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) and Project Director of the Deep Sea Port project Mohammed Zafar Alam said: "Currently, the work is going on in full swing."
He said other work, related to complete construction of the port on scheduled time, is also going on in full swing.
An agreement was signed with Nippon Koei Company on September 23, 2020, to start the construction work following approval of the project by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on March 10, he said.
Formally, Nippon Koei started the construction work on November 16, 2020, he added.
The idea of the deep-sea port in Matarbari under Maheshkhali Upazila was conceived after the government started work on building a 1,200-megawatt (2x600) coal-based power plant in the area, as a wider channel and a port would be required to bring in the fuel for the ultra super critical power station, officials said.
Besides the Deep Sea Port, some other mega projects are also being constructed in Matarbari now. The projects are the coal-fired power plant, LNG Terminal and development of highways. With works of these under-construction projects, the scenario of Matarbari is getting changed fast.
Mr Zafar Alam said, "After completing the dream project of Deep Sea Port in Matarbari under the management of Chittagong Port, the country's export and import will be substantially increased.
"As a whole, the maritime connectivity of Bangladesh will be increased remarkably," he said.
"The Deep Sea Port will enhance manifold the total container and cargo-handling capacities of the Chittagong Sea Port as larger ocean-going ships with deeper draft will be moored (at Matarbari)," he stated.
He also said that building a deep sea port to expand the capacity of Chittagong Port is the demand of the time. "Our Prime Minister announced to develop blue economy by using maritime territory of Bangladesh and harnessing the sea resources," he noted.
Following the announcement, the Deep Sea Port is being constructed as per her dream, he said.
"After opening of the Deep Sea Port in Matarbari, a new economic belt will be developed from Dhaka to Cox's Bazar which will further develop our economy," he added.
Sources said the Jica-supported deep sea port will be the first of its kind in Bangladesh. The port is planned mainly to reduce pressure on the Chittagong Port.
During the first stage, a 300-metre-long multipurpose terminal and another 460-metre-long container terminal will be built by 2026.
The main navigational channel will be 350 metres wide. Vessels with a maximum permissible draft of 16 metres will be able to navigate through the channel and cast anchor at the port.
"Ships with 8,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) containers will be able to take berth," a CPA official said.
"The container terminal will be built on 18 hectares of land, and will have an annual capacity of 600,000 to 1.1 million TEUs. Later, the container terminal will be expanded further. The terminal will be expanded up to 70 hectares," he added.
