Govt appoints Indonesian firm to operate Single Point Mooring in Cox's Bazar

The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) today (23 September) approved a proposal to award a Tk 1,946.22 crore contract to Indonesia's PT Pertamina Trans Kontinental for operating and maintaining Bangladesh's Single Point Mooring (SPM) facility at Maheshkhali in Cox's Bazar.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Division placed the proposal before the committee. Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury presided over the meeting.

The operation and maintenance (O&M) contract covers the SPM's offshore and onshore facilities, marine services and associated equipment.

The Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) floated an international tender to appoint an operator for the SPM and its double pipeline system.

The tender covered the SPM facilities at Kutubdia-Maheshkhali in Cox's Bazar and the pipeline facilities extending towards Anwara-North Patenga in Chattogram.

According to the Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority, the tender sought O&M and marine services for the complete SPM installation, including all auxiliary and ancillary facilities both offshore and onshore, for a 64-month service period.

The SPM is a major petroleum import and transportation facility designed to enable large mother vessels carrying crude oil and refined petroleum products to unload directly through a floating offshore mooring system.

Under the system, tankers can moor at a floating buoy in the Bay of Bengal and transfer crude oil and high-speed diesel through separate submarine pipelines to the pumping station and tank farm at Maheshkhali. The products can then be transported to Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) and other facilities in Chattogram.

The project comprises a floating SPM, two parallel pipelines and storage facilities. The pipelines are designed to transport crude oil and diesel separately.

Government project documents say the system was designed to reduce the time needed to unload 100,000 tonnes of crude oil from around eight to 10 days to about two days. Some 60,000–70,000 tonnes of diesel can be unloaded in about 28 hours.

The SPM project was undertaken to overcome the limitations of unloading petroleum products from large vessels at the outer anchorage using smaller lighterage vessels. Large tankers cannot enter the Karnaphuli River due to draft restrictions, making the traditional lighterage system slower and more costly.

According to BPC documents, the project comprises a floating mooring facility, a pumping station and tank farm at Maheshkhali, and a 220-kilometre pipeline network. The infrastructure also includes storage tanks for crude oil and diesel and a supervisory control and data acquisition system.

The project was completed in March 2024, and trial operations demonstrated the transfer of crude oil and diesel through the pipeline system. The facility, however, remained without a regular O&M operator for an extended period.

BPC subsequently invited international tenders to appoint an operator. The latest tender process attracted bids from PT Pertamina Trans Kontinental, China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company Limited and Hong Kong-based Hilong Marine Engineering (Hong Kong) Limited.

PT Pertamina Trans Kontinental was evaluated as technically qualified and the lowest financial bidder, according to recent reporting based on BPC documents.

The appointment of the operator is expected to enable the SPM to enter regular operation, allowing BPC to use the infrastructure for direct unloading and transportation of imported crude oil and diesel.

The facility was built to reduce dependence on the existing lighterage system, shorten fuel unloading time and lower the cost of transporting imported petroleum products.

Government estimates have previously put the potential annual savings from the SPM at several hundred crore taka, depending on the volume of crude oil and diesel handled.

The CCGP's recommendation now clears the way for the government to proceed with the proposed O&M contract with PT Pertamina Trans Kontinental.