The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has begun work on Bangladesh’s first heavy-lift jetty at Laldia Char, aiming to meet longstanding demand from businesses for a specialised facility to handle oversized and heavy cargo.

The Bangladesh Navy will construct the terminal, located a few kilometres from the main Chattogram Port and near the entrance channel for incoming vessels. CPA Secretary Md Omar Faruk said on Friday that a memorandum of understanding was signed with the Navy in Dhaka earlier this week in the presence of the shipping adviser.

The Tk 3 billion project is scheduled for completion by December 2026. The 240-metre-long jetty will have a draught of more than 10 metres, deep-water access, specialised storage areas, and a load-bearing capacity of five tonnes per square metre.

Heavy-lift terminals are designed to handle extensive and heavy industrial components using advanced cranes and lifting gear. Such infrastructure is vital for sectors including energy, manufacturing, and construction, and supports the transport of equipment such as offshore wind turbine parts.

Currently, the New Mooring Container Terminal jetty is used for handling heavy cargo, although it was not initially designed for that purpose and can only support three tonnes per square metre.

In addition to the CPA-led Laldia project, Danish shipping giant Maersk Line is also set to develop a terminal in the same area, signalling a significant expansion of Chattogram’s cargo-handling capacity.