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Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has appointed an international joint venture as the consultant for the construction of a breakwater and channel dredging work at the proposed Bay Terminal, a long-awaited project of the Chattogram port.
The CPA yesterday signed a contract with a joint venture of Sellhorn Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH of Germany, WSP of South Africa and two Bangladeshi firms AQUA Consultant & Associates and KS Consultants.
It sought a detailed engineering design of the breakwater and assess the actual volume of capital dredging required for the access channel, including necessary studies, following the latest international standards.
Earlier on August 31, the cabinet committee on public purchase approved the CPA’s proposal to appoint the joint venture for Tk 51.30 crore.
CPA Secretary Md Omar Faruk said the consultant would provide a detailed design, drawing and estimation and prepare tender documents for the works of the breakwater and access channel dredging activities within the next six months.
CPA Chairman Rear Admiral M Shahjahan, Sellhorn representative Manfred Voss and KS Consultant Managing Director Md Hafizur Rahman were present at the signing on the CPA premises.
The terminal is being constructed on around 2,500 acres of land which has a length of 6.15 kilometres, stretching from the back of Chattogram Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) to Rasmonighat on the Halishahar coast of the Bay of Bengal.
Once the terminal is operational, it will enable the Chattogram port to facilitate round-the-clock vessel movement as the site is on the coast of the Bay of Bengal.
Currently, vessel movement to and from the port through the Karnaphuli channel depends on high tides.
Moreover, vessels with a draft of up to 12 metres can be berthed at the proposed terminal. The port can currently allow only those vessels having a draft of a maximum of 9.5 metres to moor.
Talks on the Bay Terminal project began in 2011 with the emergence an 11km-long natural island from the seabed near the Halishahar coast, which raised hopes that a natural channel for vessel movement could be created.
The CPA officials said the natural island would be developed to form a breakwater to protect the port channel from strong waves while dredging was required for enhancing its depth.
(TDS)
