How many container terminals does Chattogram Port actually have? What is their status?
NCT and CCT together handled about 60% of all containers passing through the port in 2025.
The government's recent moves to bring foreign operators into the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) and Chattogram Container Terminal (CCT) have once again put the management of Chattogram Port under the spotlight.
But there is often confusion over a basic question: how many container terminals does the country's principal seaport actually have? What is their status?
The answer depends on what is meant by 'container terminal'.
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Chattogram Port currently has four operational facilities handling containers: NCT, CCT, General Cargo Berth (GCB) and Patenga Container Terminal (PCT). Of these, NCT, CCT and PCT are dedicated container terminals. GCB is primarily a general-cargo facility but also handles a substantial volume of containers.
A fifth dedicated container facility, Laldia Container Terminal (LCT), is being developed and is not yet operational.
Four existing facilities handle containers
The four existing facilities have different roles and account for different shares of the port's container traffic.
NCT is the largest, handling around 44% of Chattogram Port's total container volume in 2025. GCB accounted for about 36%, CCT 16% and PCT nearly 4%, according to port data.
This means NCT and CCT together handled about 60% of all containers passing through the port in 2025.
1. New Mooring Container Terminal
NCT is Chattogram Port's largest container-handling facility and has been operational since 2007. It has become the focus of the government's plan to introduce an international operator. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs recently gave in-principle approval to a draft 15-year concession for an international operator to upgrade, operate and maintain NCT and its Overflow Container Yard.
2. Chattogram Container Terminal
CCT is another dedicated container terminal, strategically located between NCT and GCB.
It handled about 16% of the port's container throughput in 2025. The Shipping Ministry has now directed the Chattogram Port Authority to initiate the process of appointing Saudi Arabia-based Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) as CCT's operator.
RSGT already operates PCT under a 22-year concession. The latest government directive on CCT, however, does not yet specify the tenure, financial terms or investment obligations of the proposed arrangement.
3. Patenga Container Terminal
PCT is the third dedicated container terminal currently in operation at Chattogram Port. It handled nearly 4% of the port's container volume in 2025 and is operated by RSGT under a 22-year concession awarded in 2024.
PCT is therefore already an example of a foreign company operating a specific terminal at Chattogram Port.
4. General Cargo Berth
GCB is the facility that creates much of the confusion about the number of container terminals. As its name suggests, it is primarily a general-cargo facility, rather than a dedicated container terminal. Yet it handles a very large volume of containers.
In 2025, GCB accounted for around 36% of Chattogram Port's container throughput — second only to NCT.
So, when counting facilities that handle containers, GCB is included. But technically, it should not be described as a dedicated container terminal.
A fifth terminal is coming
The Laldia Container Terminal will add another dedicated container facility to Chattogram Port once it becomes operational.
The CPA has signed a concession agreement with Netherlands-based APM Terminals, a subsidiary of the Maersk Group, to design, finance, build and operate LCT under a PPP arrangement.
The concession is for 30 years, with a possible extension based on performance. APM plans to invest about $550 million in the project.
The terminal is designed to handle more than 800,000 TEUs a year, which TBS previously reported could increase the port's container-handling capacity by nearly 23%.
So, how many terminals?
In simple terms, Chattogram Port currently has four operational facilities handling containers — NCT, CCT, GCB and PCT. But only three of them, NCT, CCT and PCT, are dedicated container terminals.
Once LCT becomes operational, the port will have four dedicated container terminals, in addition to GCB's container-handling capacity.
The distinction matters because recent discussions about foreign operators concern individual terminals, not ownership of the entire port.
The Chattogram Port Authority remains responsible for the port and its infrastructure. Under concession arrangements, an operator is given the right to develop, operate or maintain a particular terminal for a specified period. The government itself has clarified that there is no plan to hand over Chattogram Port as a whole to a foreign operator.
The debate over NCT and CCT, therefore, is essentially about who operates two of the port's most important existing container facilities and under what terms, rather than about transferring ownership of Chattogram Port itself.
