Matarbari Port

Matarbari Port is a under-construction sea-port on the shores of Bay of Bengal, located at Matarbari area of Chittagong division, Bangladesh. Construction of the port began in the late 2010s with the construction of a Captic Jetty for the Matarbari Power Plant, and later the Government of Bangladesh undertook a project to build a full-fledged commercial port. After construction, it will be Bangladesh's first deep-sea port. It is estimated that the cost for the construction of the port in the first phase will be ৳177.77 billions to ৳200.00 billions including the approach road.

The port consists of an artificial harbour, and its navigable channel is surrounded by Breakwaters. The harbour has a depth of 16 m and able to accommodate panamax and capsize ships. Cargo will be handled through container berths and multi-purpose cargo berths at the harbour. the port has a navigable channel about 14.3 km long and 350 m wide with a depth of 16 m, which is the deepest among ports in Bangladesh. The port's draft ranges from about 14.4 m to a maximum of 18 m with tidal support, which will allow entry for carrying more than 8,000 TEUs or 100,000 deadweight tons container ships.

History
Matarbari sea port was originally built for Matarbari coal-fired power plant then the government decided to turn it into a deep sea port.

On 29 December 2020, MV Venus Triumph, a 120 metres long general cargo ship, became the first foreign ship to dock at the port.

As per the original plan, the channel was supposed to be 3 km-long, 250 metres wide and 15 metres deep.

Development
Based on the Japanese ports of Kashima and Niigata, the port will be the first deep sea port and the fourth sea port in Bangladesh. The port is planned to reduce pressure on the Port of Chittagong. During the first stage, one 300 m long multipurpose terminal and one 460 m meter long container terminal is planned to be constructed by 2026. The navigation channel will be 350 m length with a maximum permissible draught of 16 m. Ships with the capacity of 8,000 TEU containers will be able to dock. In September 2020, Japan International Cooperation Agency won the contract for the consultancy services of Matarbari Port development project. Two contracts were signed by Roads and Highways Department (RHD) with Oriental Consultants Global Company Ltd and by Chittagong Port Authority with Nippon Koei.

The container terminal will be built on 18 hectares, and have an annual capacity of 600,000 to 1.1 million TEU. Later, the container terminal will be expanded, up to 70 hectares, with a 1850 m berth, and have a 2.8 million TEU capacity.

JICA said the multi-purpose terminal will be built on 17 hectares, have a 300 m berth, and be able to accommodate vessels with up to 70,000 dwt. Its annual capacity will be 2.25 million tonnes.