Patenga Container Terminal officially launched its operations on Monday under Saudi operator Red Sea Gateway Terminal in the port city.
The port operations under RSGT started with the handling of cargos of the Maersk Davao container vessel, marking the first instance of a foreign firm handling operations at a port in the country.
On this occasion, a programme was held at the Jetty 9 where Chittagong Port Authority chairman Rear Admiral Mohammed Sohail and high officials of RSGT were present.
The CPA chairman said that it was an important day for the port history and for the first time a foreign firm handling operations at a port terminal in the country.
The Chittagong Port Authority signed a concession agreement with RSGT in December 2023 to equip and operate the terminal for 22 years under a public-private partnership model through a government-to-government arrangement.
As per the agreement, RSGT was supposed to start the partial operation by April after installing small container handling equipment like quayside gantry cranes to start the full operation.
The firm sought an extension of the time until the first week of June to start the partial operation as it needed time to bring the rest of the equipment and secure legal clearances from different authorities.
The long wait came to an end last week when the National Board of Revenue provided temporary approval to RSGT Bangladesh Ltd, allowing them to conditionally start operational activities under the supervision of Chittagong Port Authority.
The Singapore-flagged vessel has arrived on Saturday and it berthed at Jetty 9 of the port鈥檚 General Cargo Berth.
After unloading the import containers, the vessel berthed at a jetty at PCT on Monday where it will be loaded with around 1,000 TEUs of export container, including empty ones ahead of sailing towards Belawan Port, Indonesia.