Sonadia to get deep-sea port by 2016

The first-phase of construction for a deep-sea port at Sonadia offshore island on the Bay of Bengal would be completed by 2016, accelerating shipping operations, parliament heard Monday.
Responding to a starred question from M Tajul Islam, shipping minister Shahjahan Khan further said that on completion of construction of the deep-sea port, vessels of 14-metre draft would be able to berth at the new seaport. At present, feeder vessels of only 9-metre depth can operate at Chittagong Port.
In the first phase, it would be possible to handle 23.84 lakh tonnes of cargo, and 17.80 lakh TEUS (twenty-foot equivalent units) containers per year.
‘From this deep-sea port Tk 1580 crore will be earned annually,’ the minister told lawmakers.
The deep-sea port was planned as the country’s existing seaports in Chittagong and Mongla are inaccessible for big ships containing huge hauls of cargo.
The declaration today comes after an inter-ministerial meeting on July 15 gave the go-ahead to a massive deep-sea port project, to be implemented in three phases at a total cost of Tk 60,000 crore.
Back then, the cost of the first phase of work was estimated at Tk 13,000 crore.
Barring any changes by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the gigantic project will be implemented on over 220 hectares of land at Sonadia point near Maheshkhali Island in the Bay of Bengal in three phases from 2010 to 2055.
The feasibility study carried out by Japanese firm Pacific Consultants International indicates that completion of the first phase will see the deep-sea port have 2 harbours with nine 300-metre long jetties, of which 4 will be cargo jetties and 5 will be container terminals.
The second phase is expected to be completed by 2035, at a cost of an additional Tk 26,000 crore, and would add two more harbours with the same specifications.
The third phase can be expected to be completed by 2055, and would add another 2 harbours with similar specifications.
PCI’s feasibility study also recommended a 40-kilometre railway, as well as roads of the same length, to be constructed to help connect the deep-sea port with Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar.

Courtesy of NewAgebd