Concerns over handing over operations of Chattogram port’s largest terminal, New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT), to a foreign operator have become more pressing, as the interim government furthers an initiative originally taken by the previous Awami League government.
Port workers and several political parties have been demonstrating against the move, raising concerns that handing over the profitable, fully operational terminal to a foreign company would not be economically viable.
Constructed at a cost of Tk 2,000 crore, the 950-metre-long terminal was completed by the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) in 2007. Equipped with five jetties, NCT can simultaneously accommodate four ocean-going container vessels at four jetties, while the fifth jetty is dedicated to the berthing of smaller container ships plying on inland routes to Pangaon. Of the port’s 18 quayside gantry cranes (QGCs), an important container handling equipment, NCT alone has 14.
Local private firm Saif Powertec Ltd has been operating two of the terminal’s jetties (two and three) on an ad hoc basis since May 2007. In 2015, CPA awarded two separate tenders appointing Saif Powertec Limited as the operator for these two jetties, and its joint venture with A&J Traders and M/s MH Chowdhury Limited as the operator for jetties four and five.
In 2024, Saif Powertec handled around 12.61 lakh TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers, representing about 44 percent of the port’s total container handling. In comparison, Chittagong Container Terminal (CCT) handled 19 percent, and General Cargo Berth (GCB) handled 37 percent of the port’s containers.
Meanwhile, the newly built Patenga Container Terminal (PCT) is yet to become fully operational, with appointed Saudi operator Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) in the process of acquiring handling equipment.
In March 2023, the Awami League government approved the appointment of an international private operator to operate and maintain NCT under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, with the talks progressing with a UAE-based terminal operator DP World.
Demonstrating port workers have questioned leasing out a ready-made terminal to a foreign operator, raising concerns that over 1,000 workers currently engaged at NCT could lose their jobs if the move materialises.
According to CPA data, the Chattogram Port Authority earned Tk 1,216 crore as revenue from NCT during fiscal year 2022-23, with a net income of Tk 574 crore after expenditures.
Saif Powertec was paid Tk 79.13 crore as handling contractor charges. At a press conference, Chattogram city unit of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami also opposed the move.
However, the government maintains that appointing a foreign operator equipped with modern technology would enhance NCT’s efficiency. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), appointed as the transaction adviser for the project by CPA, is expected to submit its report next month.
The government is inclined towards appointing DP World, considering the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and the UAE, where a significant number of Bangladeshis are employed.
