Let us first learn what a deep seaport is?
Deepwater ports are delimitated as “any fixed or floating human-made structure other than a vessel, or any group of such structures, located beyond the territorial sea and off the coast and which are used or intended for use as a port or terminal for the loading or unloading and further handling of transportation.
News;-
On Monday, the Bangladeshi government formally scrapped the mega project of constructing a deep-sea port at Sonadia by revoking the Sonadia Deep Sea Port Authority Bill 2012 fifteen years after it was conceived. With this, the high-profile project on the Bay of Bengal, which would have further enhanced China’s economic and strategic ambitions in the Indian Ocean region, has faced a setback.
Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said that the project was scrapped because of environmental concerns that drove the Bangladesh government’s decision. A deep-sea port at Sonadia would have harmed the area’s biodiversity, but there might also be hands of global geopolitics in sweeping off the project.
History of Sonadia Deep Sea Port.
The idea of a deep-sea port at Sonadia was first projected in 2006 to which China agreed to construct the port and provide loans to finance the project. The Bangladeshi and Chinese governments were to sign the framework agreement during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Beijing in July 2014, but that did not happen. Despite China’s continuing interest in the port project, the project did not even have a snail pace. Over the past six years, Bangladeshi officials have repeatedly stated that the project had been scrapped, but there was no proper conformation.
So what is now?
A deep-sea port will be built at Matarbari, 25 kilometres away from Sonadia, with Japanese help. The timeframe of this project is from 2020 to 2024. According to the plan, two jetties capable of handling 8,000 TUEs (twenty-foot equivalent units) would be readied at Matarbari.
Reasons for the burial of the project:-
1] Sonadia comes under the bio diversity zone, hence needed to be protected.
2] China did not stand beside Bangladesh in resolving the Rohingya crisis. Instead, China always lent support to Myanmar on the issue.
3] Bangladesh wants to separate itself from the two major regional giants, India and China. As the Bay of Bengal is a strategic point, Bangladesh does not want to surrender it to either of these countries.
4] Our neighbouring country Sri Lanka is facing trouble after building a deep seaport with Chinese loans can be a significant factor.
Others deep seaport in Bangladesh.
Existing ports at Chittagong and Mongla are not only congested but also have a shallow draft.
Static GK:-
Deepest seaport in India: - Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, comes under Eastern Zone.
Deepest seaport in the world:- Gwadar Port, situated on the Arabian Sea at Gwadar in Baluchistan province of Pakistan and is under the administrative control of the Maritime secretary of Pakistan and operational control the China Overseas Port Holding Company.