Although these two ports have high potential, given the current political situation, adding new port capacity in Myanmar is impossible. Myanmar has planned to develop Myeik and Dawei as deep sea ports. Bangkok port is almost converted into an inland port. Thailand has reactivated the capacity enhancement of Ranong port in the container handling segment. Once Thailand has decided to cancel the Kra Canal project, the economic relevance for the Galathea Bay terminal is not so strong. However, it is not to deny that it has potential to replace the Colombo port as a transhipment terminal for India. To sustain the Galathea container terminal, India has to generate enough cargoes for having direct calls. For India, what is needed is drastic port reforms and improvement of port performance. The requirements of India and Bangladesh in the port sector are two different mutually exclusive events. Instead, it may generate many diplomatic costs and the loss of friends. Simply looking at the savings of transhipment costs does not make sense. To replace Colombo or Singapore or Port Klang, Galathea Bay has to be developed as a sustainable smart city. Environmental costs may appear to be higher than navigational benefits. Development of a full-fledged port there may cause huge environmental risks and damages. It offers several major benefits: First, located only 40 nautical miles from the international shipping corridor second, availability of natural water depth of over 20m at berth third, transhipment for international shipping lines. What next? To fill up the gap, India has planned to build an international transhipment terminal at the Galathea Bay in Great Nicobar Island. Tajpur may not be able to handle bigger vessels (say, containers), either. To compete with nearby ports like Dhamra, investments in inland connectivity are essential, however. It would be quicker to bring cargoes from Singapore or Colombo to Matrabari because of its locational advantage. While Matarbari port is well connected and strategically located in Bay of Bengal, Tajpur is in a disadvantageous position. It presently aims for an 8m draft at the jetty side and requires expensive capital dredging from time to time. But, Tajpur port will continue to face navigational constraints. The design of Tajpur port is quite similar to that of Matarbari: construct a 18-km long navigational channel between jetties and deep water pockets in Bay of Bengal and breakwaters. West Bengal government’s plan to set up a port at Tajpur is still uncertain. Bhutan and Nepal might shift to the ports in Bangladesh for their third country trade. On the other hand, ports in West Bengal, namely, Kolkata and Haldia, which were built as impounded docks, have been struggling for cargo. By 2030, they may function as inland ports, feeding several smaller inland terminals in the region (see the Map). Bangladesh has three more ports, namely, Chattogram, Pyra and Mongla, and these are smaller tidal ports. An economic zone centring the deep seaport is coming up very fast in Bangladesh. Besides, two breakwaters have been constructed to protect the ports against tides, siltation, and storm surges. A 14-km wide navigational channel has been erected between the port terminals and deep water pockets in the Bay of Bengal, which provide a draft of 18.5m at the jetty on a continuous basis. Not only the development of the port, Japan and Bangladesh together are also building two coal-fired thermal power plants at Matarbari, which are likely to become operational by 2024. Japan has come forward to help Bangladesh in developing the deep sea port and related infrastructures. This port is going to add over 10 million tonne port capacity by 2030, starting with a container terminal in 2026, the year by when Bangladesh elevates to the developing world, leaving aside the baggage of LDC. Today, Bangladesh is setting up a deep seaport at a place called Matarbari between Cox’s Bazar and Chattogram. So, an abundance of caution must be in order. Trade among the Bay of Bengal countries will slow down if they fail to set up a deep seaport, hurting the growth and development. In such a challenging time, Bangladesh has dual mandates: First, to set up a deep sea port in support of national infrastructure requirement so that not only the elevation to the developing world becomes smooth and sustainable but also trade picks up new markets for new products and second, to build a deep sea- port in order to keep the economy growing at a faster pace.īangladesh and other Bay of Bengal countries continue to face climate issues, either rising sea levels or natural disasters. Discover the thrill of cricket like never before, exclusively on HT.
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