Capacity constraints by 2012

Chittagong: The maximum capacity of Chittagong Port to handle containers and general cargo, if not increased in the near future, will be exhausted in 2012, says a government study.


‘Chittagong port will reach its peak capacity of handling 1.3 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers and eight million tons of bulk cargo a year in 2012,’ reports the study conducted by the Pacific Consultants International of Japan.


The government commissioned the Japanese firm last year to study the techno-economic feasibility of constructing a deep seaport in the country.


Eighty per cent of the country’s foreign trade is done through Chittagong port, with Mongla sea port used for only 8 per cent.


In 2006 Chittagong port handled about 8.27 lakh TEUs of containers and 6.95 million tons of bulk cargo while Mongla port handled 26,000 TEUs and 1.07 lakh ton, the study found.


The study says the volume of seaborne container traffic through the ports in Bangladesh will rapidly rise in the future and is likely to hit about 15 million TEUs by 2055 while the volume of general cargo is reckoned to reach about 31.29 million tons.


According to the breakdown of the container traffic volume hike estimated by the study, it will increase to 1.36 million TEUs in 2012, 2.55 million in 2020, and 7.40 million in 2035.


In parallel, the volume of general cargo is expected to rise to about 8.31 million tons in 2012, 10.55 million tons in 2020, 18.58 million tons in 2035, and 31.29 million tons in 2055.


As the shipment volume may exceed the combined capacity of the existing two sea ports, Chittagong and Mongla, by 2012, thereafter the excess containers will have to be handled at the new deep seaport, the study says.


However, Chittagong and Mongla ports will become feeder ports in steps, serving by domestic feeder ships/barges/trains/trailers to and from the DSP, once the container traffic volume at the DSP reaches two or three million TEU a year.


By that time, shipping lines will deploy numbers of larger vessels focusing on the DSP as the major gateway to the country, with domestic feeder services operating between the DSP and the major inland container depots.


Considering these factors, the study predicts by 2035 the DSP will become the only international port in Bangladesh handling all the seaborne containers to and from it as well as its neighbouring countries.