Bangladesh opts to make Payra a deep-sea port
Bangladesh Special Correspondent | Nov 21, 2017 9:24AM EST
Bangaldesh desperately needs extra port capacity as its main gateway is operating nearly 40 percent above its designed capacity. Photo credit: Shutterstock
Bangladesh has revised it plans for the Payra port so that it will have a draft of 16 meters (52.5 feet), which would allow large container ships to call there and save a month of transit time to the country by eliminating the need to transship via Colombo or Singapore.
The two main Bangladeshi ports — Chittagong and Mongla — now can handle vessels with a draft of just 8.5 meters, necessitating the use of tiny feeder vessels, which leads to higher costs in addition to longer transits.
“There is no alternative but to have a deep-seaport to help attain $50 billion apparel export target by 2021,” knitwear exporter and former vice president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Mohammad Hatem told JOC.com.
“Presently, we need nearly a month to send a consignment to Europe transiting in Singapore or Colombo since mother vessels can’t come to Bangladesh water area. If a deep-sea port is built in Bangladesh and mother vessels can come here, lead time will go down significantly,” he said, adding that cost would also fall because of less reliance on feeder vessels.
Bangladesh, an emerging economy with annual economic growth around 7 percent annually should have built a deep-sea port 10 years ago, Hatem said. In addition to the draft limitations, Chittagong is operating at more than 35 percent of its designed capacity of 1.7 million TEU and only recently made progress against heavy congestion that has plagued the port for most of the year. Traffic in 2016 jumped 16 percent to 2.3 million TEU.
“If we can cut lead time, buyers will get confidence on us and place more orders,” said Hatem. Shippers often end up waiting weeks to connect feeder vessels to the mega-ships that sail the major east-west trades.
The Ministry of Shipping last week sent the Ministry of Railways a letter confirming that Payra will have the 16-meter draft, according to a senior official in the shipping ministry.
Payra will have rail, road, and waterway links with the capital of Dhaka, around which most of the country’s garment industry is based and which by extension is the primary destination for imports and origin point for exports. Bangladesh Railway and the United Kingdom’s DP Rail last year signed a deal to develop a 240-kilometer (149 mile) rail line between Dhaka and Payra seaport.
Dredging will begin soon after a technical evaluation is completed, as the Payra Port Authority and Jan De Nul have formed a joint venture to handle the $600 million project.
The British consultancy HR Wallingford has found that the port will be financially viable but may cost up to $20 billion.
https://www.joc.com/regulation-poli...h-opts-make-payra-deep-sea-port_20171121.html
Bangladesh Special Correspondent | Nov 21, 2017 9:24AM EST
Bangaldesh desperately needs extra port capacity as its main gateway is operating nearly 40 percent above its designed capacity. Photo credit: Shutterstock
Bangladesh has revised it plans for the Payra port so that it will have a draft of 16 meters (52.5 feet), which would allow large container ships to call there and save a month of transit time to the country by eliminating the need to transship via Colombo or Singapore.
The two main Bangladeshi ports — Chittagong and Mongla — now can handle vessels with a draft of just 8.5 meters, necessitating the use of tiny feeder vessels, which leads to higher costs in addition to longer transits.
“There is no alternative but to have a deep-seaport to help attain $50 billion apparel export target by 2021,” knitwear exporter and former vice president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Mohammad Hatem told JOC.com.
“Presently, we need nearly a month to send a consignment to Europe transiting in Singapore or Colombo since mother vessels can’t come to Bangladesh water area. If a deep-sea port is built in Bangladesh and mother vessels can come here, lead time will go down significantly,” he said, adding that cost would also fall because of less reliance on feeder vessels.
Bangladesh, an emerging economy with annual economic growth around 7 percent annually should have built a deep-sea port 10 years ago, Hatem said. In addition to the draft limitations, Chittagong is operating at more than 35 percent of its designed capacity of 1.7 million TEU and only recently made progress against heavy congestion that has plagued the port for most of the year. Traffic in 2016 jumped 16 percent to 2.3 million TEU.
“If we can cut lead time, buyers will get confidence on us and place more orders,” said Hatem. Shippers often end up waiting weeks to connect feeder vessels to the mega-ships that sail the major east-west trades.
The Ministry of Shipping last week sent the Ministry of Railways a letter confirming that Payra will have the 16-meter draft, according to a senior official in the shipping ministry.
Payra will have rail, road, and waterway links with the capital of Dhaka, around which most of the country’s garment industry is based and which by extension is the primary destination for imports and origin point for exports. Bangladesh Railway and the United Kingdom’s DP Rail last year signed a deal to develop a 240-kilometer (149 mile) rail line between Dhaka and Payra seaport.
Dredging will begin soon after a technical evaluation is completed, as the Payra Port Authority and Jan De Nul have formed a joint venture to handle the $600 million project.
The British consultancy HR Wallingford has found that the port will be financially viable but may cost up to $20 billion.
https://www.joc.com/regulation-poli...h-opts-make-payra-deep-sea-port_20171121.html
