CPA to build Bangladesh’s first heavy-lift jetty at Laldia Char in Ctg

The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) is constructing Bangladesh's first heavy-lift jetty at Laldia Char to meet a longstanding demand coming from the business community to handle specialised cargo.

The Bangladesh Navy will implement the project, with the site located just a few kilometres from the main Chattogram Port and close to the entrance channel for incoming vessels.

"We signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Bangladesh Navy on Wednesday in Dhaka in the presence of the shipping adviser," said CPA Secretary Md Omar Faruk on Friday.

He says the project's estimated cost is Tk 3.0 billion, and construction is expected to be completed by December 2026.

A heavy-lift terminal is a specialised port facility to handle extremely large, heavy, and oversized cargo using powerful cranes, rigging gear, and other lifting equipment.

Such terminals are critical for transporting industrial components, including parts of offshore wind turbines, and they serve key industries, such as energy, manufacturing, and construction.

The new facility, with a length of 240 metres and a draught of more than 10 metres, will feature robust infrastructure, deep-water access, and specialised storage areas to safely load and unload project cargo from ships and barges.

Each square metre of the jetty will have a load-bearing capacity of five tonnes.

Currently, the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) jetty is used for handling heavy cargo, though it was not designed for that purpose and can bear a maximum of only three tonnes per square metre.

Danish shipping giant Maersk Line is set to develop another terminal in the same area, but the heavy-lift jetty is under CPA's Laldia project 2.

jasimharoon@yahoo.com