This presentation was made to give an overview of the history of two major ports of Bangladesh and their role in the economic development of Bangladesh by analyzing the GDP growth and the estimated future growth of activities of the ports in nearby future. and the presentation also contains the data about the upcoming projects taken by the Bangladesh Government related to the ports after discovering the port-led the development of Bangladesh

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1st
Semester 2018
Course Name: Student Concluding Seminar-1
Course Code: MB 502
Submitted to: Cdre M Z Alamgir
Dean
Department of Management
Faculty of Maritime Business Studies
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, Bangladesh
Submitted By: SHAFAYET RAHMAN SEFAT
Roll No: 18712006
Master of Maritime Business-02
Date of Submission: 04/02/2019
The Evolution and Role of Port in Development of
Bangladesh

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Abstract:
The Aim of this paper is to do a brief study and research the history and evolution
of existing ports of Bangladesh and find out the existing port infrastructure and port
transport facilities in Bangladesh and its further development opportunities to
mitigate the demand of port transport within the country also for regional and
international requirements that needs to consider as priority activity. In addition,
further development of port logistics for other countries by which Bangladesh can
earn foreign exchange that will be added in GDP. Above and beyond, this paper
conducts theresearch ofexisting portfacilities and portperformance of Bangladeshi
seaports fornational, regional and other’s tradedemand currently and how efficiency
may be increased to follow the performances of ranked port of the world. Role of
government, private sector engagement through PPP for reforming the port
management are described for developing port infrastructure, roads and highways,
easy documentation and others for quick movement of cargo and container to meet
the demand ofportusers. Moreover, intermodal transportservices within the country
and specially for India, Nepal and Bhutan highly required in the South Asia that may
be supplied from Bangladeshi seaports. In here, the major factors like high transport
costs, import and export expenses, passage time and others may be reduced through
the developments of ports that positioned with the geographical advantages for some
countries including landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) of South Asia that is
focused by transit facilities by Bangladesh to other countries. Furthermore, this
paper makes a case study for Southern China transit and transport arrangement with
Bangladesh by which both countries will be benefitted equally. Overall,
development process of port transport and its interrelated subject development
attributed in this paper to make it useful for all port users nationally, regionally and
internationally.
Keywords: Transport, Logistics, Intermodal, Landlocked, Transit, China.
2. Existing Port Facilities in Bangladesh:
The geographical location of Bangladesh can be treated as very much attractive to
the international traders as she is located beside the Bay of Bengal. The bay is
comprising two natural ports located Chittagong and Mongla surrounds a great
portion of the boundary area of Bangladesh where Chittagong is the principal port
(CPA, 2014) that situated on the right bank of the river KARNAPHULY in
Chittagong. Onthe other hand, Mongla portis situated at the East Bank of PASHUR
River in Khulna. With the expanse of market economy, movement of various
products increased day-by-day that is demanding a proper transportation system
exclusively port transportation, moreover, regional requirements of port transport

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where portdevelopment is must to avail the opportunities appropriately. Meanwhile,
to (The News Today, 2013) mitigate the derived demand, Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina inaugurated PAIRA Seaport, the country's third seaport, at the RANABAD
Channel in KALAPARA, Patuakhali which one is 31km from the sea boundary,
316km from Chittagong, 130km from Mongla port and 340km from the capital
Dhaka. Remarkably, the strongest addition is the River-side Inland Container
Terminal (RICT) in PANGAON near the capital city Dhaka that introduced as
special addition of port development. Moreover, 17 NOS off-dock/ ICD-Inland
Container Depot in Chittagong, one ICT in Dhaka are helping Chittagong and
Mongla port to store the in-out containers efficiently by import delivery and export
staffing.
3. Port of Chittagong History and Evolution:
Figure: Location of Chittagong Port
The Port of Chittagong is the busiest seaport on the coastline of the Bay of the
Bengal, and the second busiest in the overall region of countries dependent on the
Bay of Bengal. According to Lloyd’s it ranked as the 71st busiest port in the world

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in 2017 Located in the Bangladeshi port city of Chittagong and on the banks of
the Karnaphuly River, the port of Chittagong handles 90% of Bangladesh's export-
import trade. Congestion is a major challenge in Chittagong port. The port had a
congestion rate of 84.3 hours between January and July in 2017.
The Chittagong area has been a recorded seaport since the 4th century BCE. In the
2nd century, the harbor appeared on Ptolemy’s map drawn by the Greco-Roman
cartographer Claudius Ptolemy. The map mentions the harbor as one of the finest in
the Eastern world. The periplus of the erythrolein sea documents trade between
Chittagong and private merchants from Roman Egypt traders frequented Chittagong
since the 9th century.
Figure: Arrival of the Dutch Ships in Chittagong port in late 17th Century
In 1154, Al-Idrisi noted that merchants from Baghdad and Basra regularly traveled
to Chittagong. Arab traders played an important role in spreading Islam in the region.
The port appears in the travelogues of Chinese explorers Xuan Zang and Ma Huan.
The Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta and the Venetian traveler Niccolò de
Conti visited the port in the 14th century. The historical port had ship trade with
Africa, Europe, China and Southeast Asia.
The Portuguese settlement in Chittagong centered on the port in the 16th and 17th
centuries. After the Portuguese were expelled, Chittagong came under the rule of

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the Mughal empire and was named Islamabad. It became an
important shipbuilding center, catering to the Mughal and Ottoman navies. After the
rise of British dominance in Bengal following the Battle of Plassey, the Nawab of
Bengal ceded the port to the British East India Company in 1760
Modernization of Chittagong Port:
The modern Chittagong port was organized in 1887 under the Port Commissioners
Act in the British Indian Empire. The port began formal operations under a
commissioner in 1888. Its busiest trade links were with British Burma, including the
ports of Akyab and Rangoon and other Bengali ports, including Calcutta,
Dhaka and Narayanganj in the year 1889–90 the port handled exports totaling
125,000 tons. The Strand Road was built beside the harbor. Between 1905-1911,
Chittagong was the chief seaport of East Bengal And Assam. It was made the
terminus of the Assam Bengal Railway. Hence, the port's hinterland included all
of Colonial Assam (modern North East India. Trade between British India and
British Burma rapidly increased in the early 20th century. TheBay ofBengal became
one of the busiest shipping hubs in the world, rivaling the traffic of ports on
the Atlantic In 1928, the British government declared Chittagong as a "Major Port"
ofBritish India. Chittagong was important for the Petroleum industry that developed
in Assam and Burma. It was used for jute and rice trading. During World War II,
Chittagong port was used by Allied Forces in the Burma Campaign.
After the partition of British India, the governor general of the Dominion of
Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, visited Chittagong and stressed its importance and
future potential. The Chittagong Port Trust was formed in East Pakistan in 1960

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.
Figure: Port of Chittagong in 1960
100 employees of the Chittagong Port were killed during the Bangladesh Liberation
War in 1971. The Soviet Pacific Fleet was tasked with mine clearing and salvage
operations in the portafter the war. The porthas benefited from the growth of Heavy
Industry and Logistics in the Chittagong Metropolitan Area in the years following
independence. TradeUnionism was strong in the late 1990s. A major expansion took
place with the construction of the New Mooring Terminal in the first decade of the
21st century

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And currently the port is managed by the Chittagong Port Control Authority of
Government Republic of Bangladesh
Figure: Summary of the Historical Background

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Figure: The Modern Port of Chittagong in 2018 December
Other Details of Chittagong Port
Terminals of Chittagong Port:
The port depends on several container Terminals, most of which are owned by
private companies.
Container Terminals
 New Mooring Terminal
 Chittagong Container Terminal
 KDS Logistics Terminal
 Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) Terminal
 Summit Alliance Container Terminal

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Industrial Terminals
 Eastern Refinery Terminal
 KARNAPHULY Fertilizer Company (KAFCO) Terminal
 Jamuna Oil Company Terminal
 Padma Oil Company Terminal
 Meghna Petroleum Terminal
 OMERA Fuels Limited Terminal
Berths:
Type of Berth Quantity
of
Berths
Notes
General Cargo Berths 6
Container Berths 14
Dolphin Oil Jetty 3 For handling Crude and Product Oil
Vessels of up to 186 meters
Grain Silo Jetty 1 Vessels up to 186 meters
Cement Clinker jetty 1 Cement Clinker Jetty
TSP 1 Vessels up to 175.25 meters
Chittagong Urea
Fertilizer Jetty
1 Vessels up to 176 meters and can be loaded
up to maximum draft of 8.5 meters
KAFCO Urea Jetty 1 Vessels having LOA of 186 meters will be
allowed to take berth at KAFCO
KAFCO Ammonia Jetty 1 Vessels having LOA up to 186 meters at
KAFCO jetties can be loaded up to a
maximum draft of 9.2 meters
River Mooring No. 3 1 Vessels up to 182.9 LOA and 7.76 meters
draft for edible oil and POL in bulk
River Mooring No. 8 1 Vessels up to 186 meters and 8 meters
draft for vegetable oil carrier
River Mooring No 9 1 Vessels up to 186 meters and 6 meters
draft for repair of vessel / laying off.
River Mooring No 10 1 Vessels up to 186 meters and 6 meters
draft for repair of vessel / laying off.
Dry Dock Jetties 3

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The port of Mongla:
Figure: Location of Mongla Port
The Port of Mongla is the second busiest seaport of Bangladesh. It is located in
Bagerhat District in the southwestern part of the country; and lies 62 kilometers
(39 mi) north of the Bay of Bengal coastline. Mongla is one of the major ports of
the Bengal Delta. Mongla is located 48 kilometers (30 mi) from the city of Khulna,
which is a regional industrial center. Due to increasing congestion in Bangladesh's
largest Port in Chittagong, many international shipping companies have turned to
Mongla as an alternative.
Mongla is a gateway for tourist ships traveling to two UNESCO World Heritage
Sites in the region, including the Sundarbans and the Mosque City of Bagerhat. The
port also hosts the Mongla Export Processing Zone (Mongla EPZ)
The port was founded in 1950 to serve the southwestern region of East Bengal. It
was originally known as Chalna Port. The port has 11 jetties and 8 warehouses. It
uses 12 swinging moorings in deeper sections in the river. The port is connected by

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the Bangladesh Railway to the Khulna Metropolitan Area. n 2015-16, 636 ships used
Mongla port. Mongla is connected to most major ports in the world, particularly
Asian ports. Hundreds of ships use the port each year, most of which come
via Singapore, Hongkong and Colombo. Mongla is also connected to most Inland in
Bangladesh, including the Port of Dhaka and the Pangaon ICT of Narayanganj.
Following a coastal shipping agreement with India, Mongla has a direct shipping
route with the port of Calcutta in the neighboring Indian state of West Bengal. A
coastalshipping agreement has also been signed with Thailand. The port is open for
24 hours and up to 225-meter-long ships canenter into the portfordischarging cargo.
A constraint free large channel is available for anchorage and loading/unloading
facilities on both sides for 33 ships at a time. The government of Bangladesh has
launched dredging and jetty construction projects to expand the capacity of Mongla
port
Role of Port in Development:
Traffic at Chittagong Port, which handles 90 percent of Bangladesh's foreign trade,
has been growing rapidly. The volume of containers handled has increased by over
10 percent a year over the last decade and a similar or faster growth rate is projected
for the foreseeable future. Chittagong Porthas not responded to this demand growth
effectively, resulting in congestions and delays at the port, as well as high costs to
port users. The delays and uncertainties in port services seriously undermine the
economy's productivity and international trading links. Improving both port
operations and on-ward inland transportation systemwill befundamental to maintain
and improve the international competitiveness of the Bangladesh economy. The
productivity at Chittagong port is the lowest among major ports in the region by
most measurements. The impact of low productivity in Chittagong port is made
worse by the poorinland transport distribution system for containers in the country.
Chittagong port is the only major port in South Asia that has no private sector
operator in its terminal operations and much of the port's services are run by public
monopoly, thus limiting competition and reducing efficiency.
The ro le o f the Chitta g o ng P o rt in the e c o no my o f
B a ng la de sh
and in p o verty reduction is critical since the port handles more than
85% of Bangladesh’s foreign trade, including the bulk of Bangladesh’s
export-garments. Between 1990 and 2004, the share of trade in GDP doubled.
As you all know, increasing both the port operations and the inland
transportation system has long been a concern of the Government.

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The development partners are available, willing and ready to support these
actions. Bangladesh’s Poverty Reduction Strategy gives high priority on
infrastructure, specifically on power and transport,
toachieve the country's economic growth and poverty reduction go
als. The WorldBank’s Country Assistance Strategy 2006-2009 also
envisages increased support to infrastructure, with a focus oncapacity expansion
and improved governance. The long-standing and multi-facet problems of
Chittagong Port are well known to all: slow vessel turn-round times, low
labor productivity, high number of trade-unions counterparts, restrictive
and corrupt practices, poor onward connection, etc. In that context, the recent
actions taken by last the Caretaker Government have contributed to dramatically
reverse these trends, introducing important and rapid improvements in all
aspects of the port activities:
1. The statistical evidence is showing that the Chittagong Port
efficiency has increased by 30% and the cost of doing business here
is already 40% lower.
2. In p arallel, the o verall s hip p ing c harges fo r inb o und c
argo es havedecreased significantly after cancellation of ter
minal handling charges. A p rivate o p erato r is no w in c ha
rge o f o p erating the C hittago ng C o ntainer Terminal (CCT)
which has helped improve the overall handling operations.
3. The average turnaround time of ships is about 4 days now, compared
to 11days even in January 2007. Although,
the measured turnaround times by competitors, for example
the private terminals at Karachi have an average vessel
turnaround time of 16 hours and container vessels at general
cargo berths require only 21 hours. Hence, there is still room
for improvement in portoperations. Available dataon container handling
charges suggests that the cost at Chittagong Port is much higher than
ports in Karachi, India, and others in the region.
4. The port has the facilities for anchoring 10-12 ships at those three
terminalsa t a t i m e . T h e C h i t t a g o n g C o n t a i n e r T e r
m i n a l ( C C T ) h a s t h e m o s t sophisticated equipment, quay
gantry cranes (QGC), for handling containers. T he fo ur QGCs
were ins talled las t year, at a c o s t o f T k 150 c ro re.
T hec o n t a in e r h a n d lin g a t t h e C C T h a s b e e n a c c e le
r a t e d a f t e r in s t a llin g sophisticated cranes. The ship-to- shore
crane is used for unloading containers d irec tly fro m a s hip and
keep ing it in a c ertain p lac e o n the s ho re.

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T his sophisticated crane has been imported from Japan. Japa
nese technicians installed it at the terminal and gave training to the
local operators for running the cranes.
5. The CP has contributed to the business in Bangladesh and stimulated setting
up of several container yards, expansion of port facilities to
handle large container carrying trains, increase of cargo
handling and storage facilities. MG manufacturers also
extensively use services of Clearing & Forwarding Agents for the
purpose of customs clearance of inputs and finished goods. It is
estimated that port usage fees earned from the RMG sector account
for more than 40% of the income of the port
authority.6. The existing inland transport distribution system f
or containers in thec o untry als o need s to b e imp ro ved
s ignific antly to help the p o rt
o p erateefficiently. The inland distribution system for trans
port of containers inBangladesh currently depends mainly on road and
partially by rail.
6. Finally, it is encouraging to know that the Government is
planning to construct a river-based ICD at Pangaon, Dhaka.
The rail ICD, near Tongi, which is planned to be supported by the
World Bank, will relieve congestion at the existing Kamalapur Railway
ICD. The Bank will also appreciate operation and maintenance of this
new ICD by the private sector.
There is also an urgent need for institutional reforms of the
Chittagong port. The gradual changes to management structure of the
port under the Landlord Model will make it more efficient and effective,
with a stronger regulatory role. In addition, the recently introduced
Automated System for Custom Data (ASYCUDA++) could be further
simplified to allow an efficient handling and transit of legal
import-export trade flows. Grameen Bank chief Prof. Muhammad
Younus after winning the noble prize has been advocating for opening
up the Chittagong Port for the foreign direct investment
10. CONCLUSION
The Portis a place where international shipping originates, terminates ortransits and
thereby of necessity making it highly dynamic venue which will keep pace with
increasing commercial and economic activities. Notably, port(Tally, 2009) sectoris
experiencing significant changes regarding structure and operational

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strategy to attract the port user for reducing passage time and cargo handling time
and cost. According to World Investment Report (2013), Bangladesh stands out as
the sourcing hotspotin the industry byoffering the advantages ofboth low costs and
large capacity. Finally, a logistics (Bichou and Gray, 2004) and supply chain
management approachto ports mayproveofgreat benefit in underlining the strategic
role and future potential of ports within the framework of international business in
general. Due (Chowdhury ,2008) to geographical
position Chittagong will ever be a hub port on the major world container trade
routing and it is likely that it will continue to be served for the containers from the
likes of Colombo and Singapore. On the other hand, Mongla port is the alternative
for eastern part of India, Nepal and Bhutan. Moreover, Chittagong is considering for
strategic, economic and political importance for developing deep seaportas another
hub port of Asia. The private (Subramaniam and Arnold, 2001) sector is pursuing
improvements in trade relations and transport logistics to ensure a smoother flow of
goods and more cost-effective services among the countries in the region. Clearly,
Bangladesh has the development opportunity of its port sector as well as business
through port transport.
8. References
1.http://en.wikipedia.org
2. Porte Grande 81, CPA, 1981
3. Year Book’92, CPA
4. Hundred Years of the Port of Chittagong, CPA, 1988
5. Problems and Potentials of Chittagong Port, TIB Report, 2007
6. Financial Express, Jan 12, 2009
7. New age, Nov 3, 2006
8.www.worldbank.org
9.www.cpa.gov.bd`