The government is expected to procure a dredger from India to maintain navigability of Mongla seaport to facilitate movement of bigger vessels.
A proposal to procure the dredger would be placed soon to the cabinet committee on public purchase, said an official.
Two Indian firms – Timblo Drydocks Pvt and Modest Infrastructure Ltd –participated in the bids to supply the dredger under the Indian one billion dollar credit line to Bangladesh. Only the Indian firms have been allowed to participate in the tender as per the credit condition.
Timblo emerged as the lowest bidder, said sources in the ministry. The cost of a dredger would be Tk676m, over 10% less than the estimated expenditure. The competitive bidding and devaluation of the US dollar against Taka have helped reduce the expenditure, said the official.
He also said the new dredger will definitely improve navigability of Mongla port. Currently, the port has only one dredger operating, and recently, a 6.5-metre draft ship failed to enter the port due to lack of navigability.
The charges for use of the ports by the Indian ships have not been fixed yet and Indian vessels will pay in line with the fees set for the other foreign ships , sources said.
A previously formed working group of the shipping ministry recommended enhancing the capacity of the ports to facilitate handling Indian goods.
It mentioned that if the container handling increases by 12% per year, it would not face any problem to handle Indian goods.
Goods handling in the Mongla port fell by around 5% in 2011-12 compared to previous year due to sluggish export and import activities in the country, officials said Sunday.
A senior official of the ministry said Indian authorities would be interested in using the country’s second seaport to transfer goods for transit. So, they would require a clear navigation system in the port channel.
A meeting at the prime minister’s office in May this year decided to enhance the port capacity to handle transit related goods if India wants to use it.
The shipping ministry earlier informed the PMO that if India wants, they could use the ports of Bangladesh having enough idle capacity.
Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan told the Dhaka Tribune that Indian authorities will definitely use the port for their transit facilities. “We hope the earnings of the port will increase many times for giving the transit facilities."
