BM Report

The government is set to sign an agreement appointing Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) Authority of Saudi Arabia as the operator of the Patenga Container Terminal (PCT) of the Chittagong Port. The Chittagong Port Authority will sign the agreement on Wednesday. The agreement is supervised by the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Authority, under the Prime Minister’s Office.

According to the contract, the RSGT will operate the terminal for a total of 22 years with a grace period of two years. After that, the port along with the equipment will be handed over to the Chittagong Port Authority. The equipment required by the PCT will be purchased by the foreign operator.

Patenga Container Terminal was made fully ready in mid-2022 and its inauguration was halted as the government decided to operate the new terminal on a public-private partnership (PPP) model.

The PPP Authority appointed IFC, a subsidiary of the World Bank, as a consultant to appoint the operator of this terminal. Several terminal operators from different countries expressed interest in taking over the management of PCT, and experts from the government and consulting firms checked various aspects of their proposals. Finally, the government selected the RSGT of Saudi Arabia as the operator.

PCT has become an important terminal of Chittagong Port as large ships can now easily berth on this terminal, which was not possible earlier. It is spread over 32 acres of land with a 16-acre yard, a 584-meter long jetty, and other facilities.

The terminal has 1 lakh 12 thousand square meters of inner yard and roads, 2 thousand 128 square meters of Container Freight Station (CFS) shed, and 5 thousand 580 square feet of port office building.

Even though the water depth is 11 and a half meters in the jetty area, ships with a draft of 10 to 10 and a half meters can be accommodated. The terminal can accommodate 3 container ships of 190 meters long and 10 or 10 and a half meters draft and 1 edible oil ship, 220 meters long.