Matarbari welcomes the largest vessel ever arriving at the country

Photo: TBS

Owusu Maru, a Panama ship with 13 metre draught and 228 metre length anchored at the Matarbari coal-fired power plant's jetty in the deep sea yesterday, creating a record of the biggest ship berthed at any port in the country ever.

The vessel with 84,000 tonne capacity brought 64,000 tonnes of coal from Indonesia for the power plant in Cox's Bazar, Abul Kalam Azad, executive director of the Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Ltd, told The Business Standard.

The coal was imported for the trial operation of the 1,200MW Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal-Fired Power Plant, which will begin commercial operation in late 2025 or early 2026, according to the Coal Power Generation Company, which is implementing the project.

Rear Admiral M Shahjahan, chairman of Chattogram Port Authority, told TBS, "This is the first time such a large vessel with 13 metre draught and 228 metre length docked at a jetty in Bangladesh. Before the construction of the Matarbari deep-sea port, anchoring large ships at the power plant's jetty will brighten the reputation of Bangladesh in the maritime world."

Sources said currently the Chattogram port's jetty can accommodate ships with a maximum of 10 metre draught – the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull – and 200 metre length. Recently, a ship with a 10.10 metre draught docked at Payra sea port.

The country's first breakwater – a barrier built out into the sea to protect a coast or harbour from the force of waves – has been constructed for developing the Matarbari deep-sea port. A 14.3km long and 16 metre deep approach channel and two jetties have also been constructed there.

A foreign vessel carrying equipment for the power plant project arrived at the first jetty built for Matarbari power plant on 29 December 2020. The first vessel arrived at the second jetty there on 15 July 2021. So far 113 ships have brought materials for the coal-fired power plant project.