BANGLADESH's Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) announced that the newly built Patenga Container Terminal has undergone a trial operation with a bulk carrier docking at the facility on July 21.

Necessary preparations were taken for cargo vessels to moor at the new terminal, Md Omor Faruque, secretary of the CPA, told The Business Standard.

More ships will gradually be docked there, which will take the increasing cargo handling pressure off Chattogram port to some extent, he noted. However, the date of the terminal's formal opening will be finalised later on.

According to CPA sources, ships that have crane facilities will get priority at this terminal for now. Until a deal with a foreign firm is finalised, the container terminal will run under CPA management.

About 92 per cent of the country's import and export goods pass through Chattogram port. Currently, the port has nineteen jetties at three terminals: General Cargo Berth, Chattogram Container Terminal, and New Mooring Container Terminal.

After the opening of the Patenga terminal - 15 years after the new mooring terminal was constructed in 2007 - the number of jetties will increase to 23.

The port can currently accommodate ships with a maximum 9.5 metres of draught and 190 metres of length. The Patenga terminal will be able to accommodate ships with 10.5 metres of draught and two hundred metres of length.

The Patenga Container Terminal, built on a 32-acre site, will be able to handle about 450,000 TEU annually.

The terminal, with three container jetties and an oil unloading (dolphin) jetty, will be able to load and unload containers from four cargo vessels simultaneously.

Initially, it was decided that the CPA will manage the Patenga terminal, but the authorities decided that foreign operators will operate it under public-private partnership. Finally, it was again decided that if no foreign operator is hired by July 2022, the port authority will start running the terminal.

Five foreign companies have come forward with proposals for investing in and managing the Patenga terminal. The companies are AP Moller-Maersk of Denmark, Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) of Saudi Arabia, Dubai Port World (DP World) of UAE, Adani Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd of India and PSA International Singapore.

The port authority is currently negotiating with AP Moller-Maersk, RSGT and DP World, according to a source at Chattogram port.