The main construction work of the country’s first deep seaport terminal at Matarbari, located on the coast of Moheshkhali in Cox’s Bazar, is scheduled to begin on 3 May, marking a major milestone in Bangladesh’s maritime infrastructure development.
After prolonged delays caused by land acquisition complexities, local resistance and preparatory challenges, the project is now entering its core implementation phase – raising expectations of a transformative impact on the country’s trade and logistics sector.
Preparatory work for the Matarbari Deep Sea Terminal began in October last year. In its early stages, the project faced resistance from local residents, which temporarily halted progress. However, following the intervention of the Chattogram Port Authority and law enforcement agencies, the situation stabilised, allowing work to resume. Officials confirm that nearly 95 percent of the preparatory activities – including embankment construction, land filling and demarcation of the project area – have already been completed.
Project Manager Mohammad Saiful Hasan Chowdhury said the transition to full-scale construction would begin in early May. “Dredging from the sea to the jetty will be carried out to a depth of approximately 18 metres to facilitate the movement of large vessels. This process is expected to take five to six months. Subsequently, construction of jetties, container yards and other infrastructure will proceed in phases,” he told the TIMES of Bangladesh.
Despite the steady progress, the project has encountered unexpected setbacks. According to port officials, a vessel transporting dredging equipment from Singapore was intercepted by pirates near the Myanmar maritime boundary. The attackers reportedly looted several spare parts, causing delays in mobilisation and pushing back the construction timeline.
To facilitate the project, around 305 acres of land – both public and privately owned – have already been acquired, and compensation has been disbursed to affected stakeholders.
The project is being financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), while construction is being carried out by a joint venture of Japan’s Penta Ocean Construction and TOA Corporation.
Under the project, a 300-metre multipurpose jetty and a 460-metre container jetty will be developed, alongside modern port infrastructure including terminal buildings, container yards, pavements, sea walls, retaining walls, land development works, dredging systems and solar power facilities. Once completed, the port will be capable of handling container vessels with a capacity of up to 8,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEU) – significantly higher than the approximately 2,500 TEU capacity vessels currently handled at Chittagong Port.
In the initial phase, about 70 acres of land will be dredged to a depth of 18 metres and incorporated into the port channel. Authorities have already relocated 51 families from this area with proper compensation. However, four families are yet to vacate the site. The Ministry of Shipping has instructed the Chittagong Port Authority to ensure their relocation promptly. Officials said that these families had built structures on government land and were therefore ineligible for compensation. Following a visit by port officials on 29 April, the families assured they would relocate by the coming Sunday.
Looking ahead, officials expect that the port will handle between 600,000 and 1.1 million TEUs annually by 2029. This capacity is projected to expand significantly to between 1.4 million and 4.2 million TEUs by 2041. Currently, Chittagong Port handles around 3 to 3.2 million TEUs each year.
The operationalisation of the Matarbari Deep Sea Terminal is also expected to dramatically reduce shipping time and costs. At present, it takes 40 to 42 days for goods from Bangladesh to reach European destinations. With the new port, large container vessels will be able to berth directly, reducing transit time by 16 to 17 days. Officials estimate that both shipping time and costs could fall by more than 50 percent.
Khairul Alam Sujan, former vice-president of the Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association, noted that the port would also enhance regional connectivity. “Once operational, goods can be transported via feeder vessels from Indian ports such as Kolkata and Haldia. This transshipment system will improve efficiency for trade involving India, Nepal and Bhutan, and enable Bangladesh to earn significant foreign exchange,” he said.
To support the port’s operations, the Roads and Highways Department has undertaken a plan to construct a 28-kilometre road linking the terminal with the national highway network. This is expected to facilitate smoother movement of goods between the port and major industrial zones across the country.
The total estimated cost of the project stands at approximately Tk 24,300 crore. The first phase is targeted for completion by 2029.
In 2024, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) revised the project cost upward from Tk 17,777 crore to Tk 24,381 crore, primarily due to exchange rate fluctuations and rising global costs.
The Matarbari project has also benefited from earlier infrastructure built for the 1,200 MW Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal-Fired Power Plant. A 14.3-kilometre navigational channel constructed for transporting coal and equipment is now being repurposed for port operations. Already, 197 ships have docked at this jetty, and approximately 5.56 million metric tonnes of cargo has been handled.
