Sea Port refers to the establishment for loading and unloading of goods having anchorage facility for ships and embarkation and disembarkation facilities for passengers. Since 80% people of the world live within 100 miles of coastlines, seaports emerged as immense economic important places for people of littoral countries.
Although a
small country, Bangladesh is of clutch geopolitical importance. It has one of world’s fastest growing
economies. It is on Goldman Sachs’s list of the Next 11 emerging
economic powerhouses of the 21st century.
So, this growing economy of Bangladesh is demanding a growth of its
port infrastructure, both in capacity and number. The country’s central coastal
zone is also demanding an extension of the country’s port facilities. The
proposed solution to this is the development of the Payra Sea Port. In
order to increase the economic activities in the central zone and meet the
future demand, Payra Sea Port Act 2013 was passed in National Parliament on 10
November 2013. Honorable Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina inaugurated country’s 3rd seaport named as Payra Sea Port on 19
November 2013. Payra Sea Port is located in the Meghna Estuary at Rabnabad
Channel in the Patuakhali district. It is about 154 NM far from Chittagong port
and 125 NM from Mongla Port. Rabnabad Channel is a naturally suitable place to
build a seaport. Its Port Limit is about
504 square miles and outer anchorage is 210 square miles for anchoring the
vessel draught 10-20 m. Jetty area has depth of water 12-25 m where deep
draught and bigger size vessel can be berthed.11 km long terminal facilities
can be developed. It has 4 km wide channel and plenty of hinterland to develop
a seaport with modern infrastructure. Planned Navy base and Coast Guard close
to the proposed port area will provide necessary safety and security. It is
protected from natural disaster and located in regional and international
shipping friendly position. It can be used as regional transshipment port.
Presently there is a 2 lane national highway road connection with the capital
city Dhaka and distance is about 242 km. Govt. has planned to expand the
existing highway into 4 lanes and given approval to make 5.6 KM connecting road
from payra Sea Port to Patuakhali highway. Existing river route is suitable for
plying vessel with 5 m draught for carriage of inland goods from the port. There
is no hindrance of crossing bay by inland vessel. Waterway distance from Dhaka
is 267 km which is almost same of Chittagong port. Govt. has a plan to railway
communication up to Payra through Padma Bridge which will maximize port traffic
movement. International reputed Farm namely HR Wallingford UK was given the
responsibilities to carry out the Detailed Techno Economic feasibility study.
Government has
taken Short, Mid & Long Term Plan to develop a state of art modern sea
port. Initially, the port will handle loading and unloading of food grains, fertilizer
and cement. The full-fledged port activities in Payra will start by 2023. And
then it will have the capacity to house 75,000 containers.
Country’s
sea-borne trade is growing on average at 9.2 percent per annum. This trade is
anticipated to continue or even accelerate in the foreseeable future. In 2020,
the country’s total annual sea borne trade will be in the range of 70 to 80
million tones. The Payra Sea port is set to become the bustling player in our
international seaborne trade. It has all the strategic, geographic and
hydraulic benefits required. Partnering with the Payra Sea port means
partnering with a better tomorrow for the country and docking safely into
Bangladesh’s future.
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