RSGT supercharges Patenga Container Terminal: 1.19 lakh TEUs in 15 months

Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) Chittagong, the country’s first international terminal operator, has handled 1,19,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers at the Patenga Container Terminal (PCT) of Chattogram Port over the past 15 months.

Since the terminal’s inauguration in June last year, the global operator has facilitated the loading and offloading of import and export containers to and from 75 vessels.

With an investment plan of US$170 million, it has already invested $135 million in procuring equipment, enhancing facilities and others, officials said.

They projected that once the terminal is fully equipped by the first quarter of 2026, its annual handling capacity will rise to 6,00,000 TEUs.

According to Chattogram Port Authority (CPA), the PCT handled 75,763 containers in the 2024-25 fiscal year, including 61,167 export and 14,596 import containers.

The terminal could not process import consignments due to a lack of a required scanner, but with the formal inauguration of the scanner in May, the PCT handled its highest 16,219 TEUs containers – 7,369 import and 8,850 export containers.

RSGT’s $135 million investment includes $25 million for 14 Rubber-Tyred Gantry (RTG) cranes, $26 million for four advanced Ship-To-Shore (STS) cranes, $3 million for a scanner, $12 million for other equipment and another $69 million for overall enhancement, according to RSGTI officials.

RSGT Chittagong Head of Customer Relations Syed Tarique said that the 14 RTG cranes are expected to arrive by October, while the sophisticated STS cranes will be in place by March next year.

“With the full installation of equipment, we will be able to handle 5,00,000 to 6,00,000 TEUs annually,” he said.

“As operation at the South Container Yard has also started, the terminal’s storing capacity will stand at 4,000 TEUs,” he added further.

“The efficiency will increase further once all equipment is fully operational by the first quarter of next year, Syed noted.

Notably, the deal with the RSGT Chittagong, an international venture of Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) that operates the largest terminal facility in Saudi Arabia, was inked in December 2023.

Work on the contemporary full-fledged and self-dependent terminal was completed in June 2022. The government appointed the foreign operator, the first of its kind in the country, for a 22-year term under a government-to-government framework by the Private Public Partnership Authority.

The CPA developed the terminal on 26 acres near the Chattogram Dry Dock and Chattogram Boat Club in the city’s Patenga area, to boost port capacity to meet the future challenges centring on the country’s export-import businesses.

Bangladesh Army’s 34 Engineer Construction Brigade implemented the project, developing facilities for berthing of three container vessels simultaneously.

Approved in June 2017, the deadline for the project involving Tk1,868 crore from the port’s own fund was set for December 2019.

However, following revisions, the project was completed in June 2022 at a reduced cost of around Tk1,147 crore, after dropping some components, including the procurement of equipment.

Several international firms, including Dubai Port World (DP World) of the United Arab Emirates, Adani Port and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) of India, PSA of Singapore and APM of Denmark, also expressed their interest in operating and investing in the terminal, port said sources.

Currently, there are three more terminals – General Cargo Berth (GCB), Chattogram Container Terminal (CCT) and New-mooring Container Terminal (NCT) – and four dolphin jetties at the port.

The interim government also plans to appoint three foreign operators at the NCT, Bay Terminal and Laldia by December this year.