Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated today (27 October) capital dredging works of the main navigation channel of the country’s third-largest seaport, Payra port, located in south-central Bangladesh.
The Dutch company Jan De Nul will carry out the dredging works of the 75-kilometre-long access channel namely Rabnabad channel which will be 100 to 125-meter wide with 10.5-meter water depth after completion of dredging.
Once dredged in that depth, the navigation channel of the under-construction seaport will be able to accommodate 3,000 TEU-sized container vessels and 40,000 tonnes-sized bulk cargo vessels.
The government of Bangladesh is funding the dredging works from its foreign currency reserve, amounting to US$500 million, to make the channel navigable for both local and foreign commercial ships.
Sheikh Hasina also inaugurated the construction works of the first multipurpose terminal of the port which will cost US$450 million. The terminal will be able to accommodate three containers or cargo vessels at a time. The port is also expected to have two additional container terminals in the future.
In the absence of a full-fledged terminal, no container vessels are calling the port until now.
Port officials expect that at least one terminal of the port will come into operation by the next year as part of a mid-term development plan.
British consultancy HR Wallingford conducted a feasibility study of the port which showed construction of the full-fledged Payra port may cost US$20 billion to the exchequer. The study also noted each year approximately US$350 million will be needed for maintenance dredging works of the navigation channel.
Sharar Nayel
Asia Correspondent
