Ctg Port facing shortage of equipment

July 19: The Chittagong Port, the country’s prime seaport, is suffering from acute shortage of container handling equipment causing serious problem in the field of maritime trade.
The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) about four years back procured 141 container handling equipment at a cost of Tk 330 crore in order to gear up the container handling in the port. They were procured after the construction of the Chittagong Container Terminal in order to equip it for handling of more containers efficiently.
In the first phase, eight types of equipment were procured while the rest seven in the second phase. They included 13 straddle carriers, 9 reach stackers, 22 tractors and 24 trailers and six RTG cranes.
The Authorities procured 79 equipment of 8 types in the first phase at a cost of Tk 200 crores. In the second phase 63 equipment were procured, including 14 40-foot trailers, three 20-foot trailers, 3 forklifts, 5 low-march forklifts, 26 tractors, 9 reach stackers, and 6 RTGs at a cost of Tk 100 crore.
Of them the CPA had already procured 6 Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) Crane at a cost of Tk 60 crore.
The decision to improve and expedite container handling followed remarkable increase in use of containers in the maritime trade. According one estimate, arrival of container vessels in Chittagong Port has gone up by more than 80 per cent annually.
The Chittagong Port was constructed some 119 years back as a General Cargo Berth. Container handling started since 1977 with only 6 TEUs of container. Now it had jumped up to 11 lac TEUs.
With the increase of containerization, the CPA had undertaken the New Mooring Container terminal project at a cost of Tk 737 crore, including a 1,000 metre long berth and back up facilities on 65 acres of land. The New Mooring Container terminal had gone on operation a year back. But proper container handling equipment have not been procured and as a result, the CPA is facing equipment shortage.
Currently, a total of 12 container ships can take berth at a time. But the arrival of the container vessels in Chittagong Port has gone up rapidly.
Besides, the CPA has undertaken a new project to construct another container terminal in the existing jetty number 11, 12 and 13 in order to cope with the increasing demands. The cost of the 500-metre long terminal project has been estimated at Tk 550 crore.
The existing jetty number 11, 12 and 13 had been damaged in the devastating cyclone of 1991. The CPA has decided to turn them into specialised container terminals. 
 
Courtesy of The Independent