Mud and sand accumulation in a critical stretch of the Matarbari Deep Sea Port channel has emerged as a persistent navigational problem, forcing authorities to spend around 100 crore taka on dredging just two years after large coal carriers began using the waterway.

Sediment has accumulated across roughly three kilometres of the 14.3-kilometre artificial channel in Maheshkhali, Cox’s Bazar. Mud is concentrated along about two kilometres, while sand has built up along another kilometre.

The problem became serious enough for the Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) to reduce the permitted vessel draft from 12.5 metres to 11.5 metres last December.

Following dredging between June and August 31, the CPA announced on September 9 that vessels up to 230 metres long and with a 12.5-metre draft could again berth at Matarbari’s coal jetty.

The work cost around 100 crore taka, according to officials, although it remains unclear who will ultimately pay the bill.

The sediment problem is concentrated between the ninth and 11th kilometres of the channel.

Port officials said water entering from the sea slows after reaching a bend beyond the eighth kilometre. Heavier sand settles first around the ninth kilometre, while finer mud suspended in the water accumulates mainly around the 10th and 11th kilometres.

Sedimentation is considerably lower from there to the jetty.

“There is no alternative to regular dredging in this channel,” CPA Secretary Syed Refayet Hamim said. “Without regular dredging, sediment accumulation will increase.”

The CPA awarded the latest dredging work through the Direct Procurement Method to Narayanganj-based Dockyard and Engineering Works, which assigned the work to Chinese company CCECC.

CPA dredger Khanak also conducts maintenance dredging in the channel.

Captain Anam, president of the Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officers’ Association, said the channel’s geography makes sediment accumulation particularly difficult to avoid.

Sediment carried downstream by rivers remains suspended in seawater and enters the Matarbari channel, he said. But unlike a river channel, Matarbari has no upstream flow capable of flushing the material back out.

“As a result, it continues to accumulate there,” he said.

Matarbari began receiving large coal carriers in April 2023. Since then, 223 vessels have called there, including 109 coal carriers. Between two and four ships arrive each month, carrying an average of around 64,000 tonnes of coal each.

The dredging bill has meanwhile raised another question: who should bear the recurring cost?

Hamim said the CPA had sought instructions from the government because the ships currently using the channel primarily serve the Matarbari coal-fired power project.

Although the CPA undertook the dredging to keep vessels moving, the power project is the direct beneficiary, he said.

The channel was originally constructed under the JICA-funded Matarbari coal power project. It was later incorporated into plans for Bangladesh’s first deep-sea port.

The Matarbari Port Development Project has an approved cost of 17,777.16 crore taka, including 12,892.76 crore taka in JICA loans, 2,213.25 crore taka from CPA funds and 2,671.15 crore taka from the government.

Its first phase, initially scheduled for completion by December 2026, has been pushed back to 2029.

Once completed, Matarbari is designed to accommodate ships up to 350 metres long with a 16-metre draft, compared with the roughly 200-metre-long, 10-metre-draft vessels currently handled at Chattogram port.

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