05-06. MayJun 2022 issue-v2.qxp_Pages-12-40-JanFeb WPD 01/06/2022 12:39 Page 7
port survey
bangladesh
Update: Matarbari Port
It all started as a new coal terminal project but soon an additional container and multi-purpose terminal were added to the list. Thomas Francis reports…
T
he Matarbari Port is a new deep-sea port under development in the Bangladeshi city of Chittagong. The 283acre port is being constructed on land which was intended for salt flats on Maheshkhai island in Cox’s Bazar District, Chittagong. The construction of the deep-sea port was first proposed in August 2014, in order to receive imported coal for the planned 1,200 MW Matarbari power station, funded by the Japanese Government’s Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), with the Bangladesh government also receiving funds from JICA for construction for the new port. The Japanese prime minister offered USD4.8 billion in loans for the project, which would include the 1,200 MW Matarbari power station. JICA imagined the port to be part of a broader project to turn the area into an industrial corridor, and an important trade gateway to the rest of Asia and beyond. The new coal terminal would be a joint venture between Coal Power Generation Company of Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL) and Shumitomo Corporation of Japan.The 1,200 MW power station, a joint venture of Japan’s Mitsui and Company Ltd and Malaysia’s IMDB Energy Group Berhad, would be using about 3.73 million tonnes of coal annually. With designer plans changing all the time it soon became apparent that Matarbari Port would extend up to the port of Sonadia. Here plans for a new port - the Sonadia Port - were on the table after a feasibility study was conducted in 2006 by Japan-based Pacific Consultant International (PCI). PCI found Sonadia Island suitable for the construction of the proposed port, but did not consider inclusion of coal, oil, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) jetties in the plan. In January 2015, it was reported that the proposed Sonadia Port, located approximately 25km away, would be abandoned and that Matarbari would be extended. Five months later, in June 2015, JICA said that construction of the deep-sea port at Matarbari was set to start by January 2016. In September 2015, Bangladesh central government approved Japan’s proposal to finance and build the seaport in Matarbari, with JICA offering USD3.7 billion to build the estimated USD4.6 billion port and power complex.
20 World Port Development June 2022
