Bangladesh Bay Coal Terminal
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Bangladesh Bay Coal Terminal is a cancelled terminal that was planned as part of Bangladesh Bay Terminal, currently under development.[1]
Location
The Bangladesh Bay terminal has been proposed on a 1,200 acre island in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Patenga in the city’s Halishahar Ananda Bazar area. It is near the Chittagong Port and Chittagong Export Processing Zone, shown in the map below.[2]
Background
The Bangladesh Bay Terminal was proposed to deal with capacity limits at the nearby Chittagong Port.
Early reporting on the Bangladesh Bay Terminal included coal among the cargoes the new terminal was expected to handle. A 2019 overview of projects to expand the capacity of Chittagong port described the Bay Terminal as planned to handle coal.[3] Later official project descriptions do not include coal handling. The detailed feasibility study carried out by HPC Hamburg Port Consulting between August 2016 and September 2017 covered operations planning for "the container and the multipurpose terminal."[4] Bangladesh's Public Private Partnership Authority describes the project, approved in principle by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 24 July 2019, as the "construction of breakwater for about 11km, dredging construction of a multi-purpose terminal and two container terminals," with no reference to coal.[5] When the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved the Tk 13,525.57 crore Bay Terminal Marine Infrastructure Development Project in April 2025, the terminal was described as comprising two container terminals, to be operated by PSA Singapore and DP World, and a multipurpose terminal run by the Chattogram Port Authority. The same report noted that Bangladesh's only dedicated coal import facility in the area is at Matarbari, "built for importing coal only."[6] Coal handling therefore does not appear to form part of the current Bay Terminal plan, and coal imports for the region are handled at the Matarbari coal terminal.
History of Bangladesh Bay Terminal
In August 2016, the Chittagong Port Authority appointed a joint venture (JV) comprised of two German firms – Sellhorn Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH and HPC Hamburg Port Consulting GmbH – and Bangladeshi firm KS Consultants Limited to conduct the feasibility study. The JV submitted the report and a master plan in 2017, describing the project as economically and technically viable.[7]
In 2017, it was disclosed at the 11th meeting of the Advisory Committee of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) that the Bay Terminal was in the top priority list of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, with a proposed commissioning by 2021.[8] According to the Bangladesh ministry, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to finance the project.[9]
In August 2021, the Bangladesh government set a target to complete the construction work of Bay Terminal and make it operational by 2024. The Bay Terminal is expected to have three terminals to handle up to three dozen vessels of 5,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) each. It would enhance the Chittagong port’s handling capacity by an additional three million TEU.[10][7]
Of the three terminals, the Chittagong port authority will build one and international port contractors will be the other two. An earlier decision was that all three terminals would be constructed by foreign contractors.[10]
As of August 2021, a consulting firm was updating the feasibility study report and the master plan prepared in 2017. In addition, 275,000m² of privately-owned land had been acquired while the acquisition of 3.2km² of government land was underway. The "earth filling works" for construction of a "container storage yard" were reportedly already completed.[10]
The government selected PSA Singapore to construct one of the two terminals. Dubai-based DP World was asked to submit a detailed project proposal for the second terminal.[10]
The work for at least one terminal is funded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector funding arm of the World Bank.[10] According to Joint Secretary (Planning) of the Shipping Ministry, Rafique Ahmed Siddique, “The World Bank received Government of Bangladesh’s indicative financing request of US$350 million for the construction of breakwater and navigation access channel on April 13, 2021. The Bank confirmed intension to finance on the project. However, the project cost will be confirmed after the feasibility study.”[11]
The construction is expected to begin in early 2023. [12]
According to an article published in July 2024, the Master Plan of Bay Terminal will include its fourth terminal, an oil terminal. The Master Plan wrote that the construction of Bay Terminal is scheduled to begin in the middle of 2024, targeting to partial operation in 2026.[13]
Project Details of proposed coal handling
- Sponsor: Chittagong Port Authority
- Location: Patenga, Chittagong district, Chittagong division, Bangladesh
- Coal Capacity (Million tonnes per annum): NA
- Status: Cancelled
- Start year:
- Type: Imports
- Source of Coal:
- Source of financing:
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ "The FE - Bay Terminal: a future port of Bangladesh". thefinancialexpress.com.bd. Retrieved 2026-09-28.
- ↑ "Bay Terminal," Google Maps, accessed September 2021
- ↑ "Projects to boost Chittagong port capacity," Bangladesh24, archived October 23, 2019.
- ↑ "Detailed Feasibility Study for the Construction of Bay Terminal," HPC Hamburg Port Consulting, accessed September 2026.
- ↑ "Construction of Bay Terminal under Chittagong Port Authority," Public Private Partnership Authority, Bangladesh, last updated February 20, 2024.
- ↑ "Govt gives nod to Bay Terminal support project," The Daily Star, April 21, 2025.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Bay Terminal project to gather pace," The Daily Star, August 20, 2021
- ↑ "Bay terminal at Patenga in PM's priority list," CMA CGM, March 27, 2017
- ↑ "Govt to drop 5 projects," The Independent, January 9, 2017
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 "Bangladesh sets target to build Bay Terminal by 2024," Container News, August 20, 2021
- ↑ "WB to support CPA to construct Bay Terminal’s non-revenue portion," The Independent, July 18, 2021
- ↑ Bay Terminal construction begins in early 2023, Business Standard, 21 September, 2022
- ↑ Bay Terminal to expand with new oil terminal, Financial Express, Jul 25, 2024
