STAR BUSINESS REPORT

Container handling at the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) of Chattogram Port increased in the first week of operational management by Chittagong Dry Dock Limited (CDDL), Bangladesh’s sole dry dock currently operating under the Bangladesh Navy.

The CDDL started running the NCT at the country’s largest port from July 7.

Until yesterday, the terminal recorded an average of 3,181 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) handled per day, compared to 2,956 TEUs daily during the previous seven days when the terminal was managed by Saif Powertec Ltd, according to a statement issued by the Chief Adviser’s office.

This marks an increase of 8 percent, or 225 TEUs per day, reflecting a positive improvement in efficiency and performance, it states..

The NCT terminal had long been operated by Saif Powertec. Upon the expiration of its contract with Chittagong Port on July 6 this year, the shipping ministry approved the handover of operational responsibility to CDDL, effective from July 7.

“Since the transition, the terminal has shown improved coordination and operational discipline.”

Between July 7 and July 13, container loading and unloading of 10 vessels was successfully completed, and currently, four vessels are being handled simultaneously at the four berths of the NCT.

Saif Powertec had been running Chattogram Port’s two terminals – Chittagong Container Terminal (CCT) and NCT – since their inception.

The NCT opened for operations in 2007. Saif Powertec initially operated two of the NCT’s jetties on an ad hoc basis. In 2015, it was directly appointed by the CPA to operate four jetties.

The terminal remained underutilised for eight years following its construction due to a lack of necessary equipment. By 2022, the CPA had completed purchasing and installing the key equipment — quayside gantry cranes.

The NCT handled 38.5 percent of a total of 32.75 lakh TEUs of containers that passed through Chattogram Port in 2024, according to official data.