Another vessel docks at Matarbari with 65,000 tonnes of coal

Another vessel, YM ENDEAVOR, docked at the Matarbari deep sea port jetty with 65,250 tonnes of coal on Friday.

The Hong Kong-flagged vessel, which is 228.99 metres long with a draft of 12.5 metres, was brought to the jetty through an artificial channel.

According to Chattogram Port, unloading of coal is expected to begin from Saturday.

Earlier, on 24 April Panama flagged MV 'OWUSU MARU', a 229-metre-long and 12.5 metre draft vessel, arrived at the outer anchorage of Matarbari seaport with 63,000 tonnes of coal from Indonesia. The vessel was brought to the power plant jetty the following day, making it the largest ship so far to dock at any Bangladeshi port.

The vessel successfully unloaded coal and left Matarbari Jetty on the morning of 7 May.

These ships are brought to the jetty through an artificial channel which is 14.3 km long and 350 metres wide.

Vessels with a maximum draft of 10 metres and length of 200 metres can now dock at the Chattogram port.

Abul Kalam Azad, executive director of Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited, said that the construction work of the coal power plant is almost over.

"Commercial production will start in this power plant from next December and 600MW electricity will be produced from the plant. Another 600 MW is expected to be added by March 2024," he said.

"Test commissioning of the power plant started in January. On 14 February, 400KV power lines were commissioned. Some 10,000 tonnes of coal will be required per day once production starts," the official said, adding that the power plant has a storage capacity of 6 lakh tonnes of coal.