Laldia container terminal project gains momentum

AP Moller Maersk, a Danish shipping and logistics company, will likely invest between $300 and $400 million for constructing the Laldia container terminal at Chattogram Port, according to project officials.

With the government's official nomination, APM Terminals, a subsidiary of AP Moller Maersk, will develop the first BOT (build-operate-transfer) port project in Bangladesh under a public-private partnership (PPP) and on a government-to-government basis.

Besides, various preparatory works for the initiative have been ongoing at full swing since January earlier this year, they said.

With a quay length of 450 meters, berth depth of 10.5 meters and vessel draft of 9.5 meters, the Laldia container terminal will help address the increasing demand for efficient and sustainable container handling services, according to the PPP Authority.

Commodore M Fazlar Rahman, member (harbour and marine) of the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), has been appointed as project director.

Rahman will be heading a seven-member project delivery team comprising representatives of the shipping ministry, PPP Authority and the CPA.

Meanwhile, the PPP Authority has formed a project assessment committee (PAC) led by Md Mushfiqur Rahman, secretary and CEO of the autonomous government agency that regulates all public-private partnerships in Bangladesh.

CPA Secretary Md Omar Faruk informed that APM Terminals recently proposed holding a virtual meeting with the project team on March 12 to discuss the navigability and depth of Karnaphuli channel.

Faruk said the subsidiary of Maersk also requested that representatives of the UK-based HR Wallingford, which is conducting a survey on Karnaphuli channel, be present at the meeting.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the Laldia terminal project on March 11, 2013.

Primarily, it was supposed to build a bulk cargo terminal at the site, but later the government decided to develop a multipurpose terminal to handle both bulk cargo and containers.

But the initiative faced delays as the project area, Laldia Char, was occupied by illegal establishments that were home to about 2,000 families.

The CPA moved to evacuate the land several times but failed due to resistance from locals before finally succeeding in 2021.

Maersk Group had come up with its proposal to set up Laldia container terminal early last year while its Chairman Robert Uggla expressed the same interest in a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina later on August 27.

The project then started gaining pace after the prime minister gave the nod to Maersk's proposal.

APM Terminals had accepted Bangladesh's formal offer for the project at the first joint platform meeting in this regard between Bangladesh and Denmark on January 3 earlier this year.

CPA Chairman Rear Admiral Mohammad Sohail told The Daily Star that the committees and the CPA technical team are conducting meetings on a regular basis.

The PPP Authority is preparing to appoint a global firm as transaction adviser for the project while APM Terminals is also conducting a feasibility study, he said.

The CPA will start negotiations with APM Terminals regarding the project upon completion of a detailed feasibility by the transaction adviser, Sohail added.

The CPA chairman hoped the negotiations will not take much time as the CPA is now well experienced in this regard.

For example, the CPA recently completed negotiations with Saudi port operator RSGTI and reached a successful concession agreement for appointing the firm to operate the Patenga container terminal.