On the Independence Day of Bangladesh, 26 March 2023, the Payra Port Access Channel was declared open for commercial vessels up to a draught of 10.5 m. The Chairman of Payra Port, Rear Admiral Sohail, together with Jan De Nul’s Project Director Jan Moens, made the announcement in presence of Mr. Mohibbur Rahman, Member of Parliament, at the newly developed port.

Payra Port, the third seaport of Bangladesh, accomplished this challenging task, entrusting the execution of the works to the dredging company Jan De Nul Group under the engineering consultant supervision led by CDR International. Vessels with a draught of 10.5 m will be able to enter the port throughout the year.

Jan Moens, Project Director at Jan De Nul Group: “We are proud to have contributed to the future prosperity of Bangladesh, by executing the visionary approach of the Bangladesh Government to develop an untouched region of the country, by enabling a green field port economy. Working with our team to create the third and deepest draught port of Bangladesh has been a fantastic journey.”

Jan De Nul deployed multiple vessels to dredge at Payra Port

The capital dredging phase started after the monsoon season of 2022 and was completed well ahead of the monsoon season of 2023. During the past months, a significant part of the Jan De Nul dredging fleet has contributed to create the maritime access to Payra Port. Due to the limitations set by the yearly monsoon period, the project was time sensitive. Two Cutter Suction Dredgers, JFJ De Nul and Ibn Battuta, were deployed alongside five Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers and one Water Injection Dredger, to dredge over 50 million m³ of soil in record time.

The engineering advisory of CDR International, in combination with the solution driven approach of Payra Port Authority, has led to the early completion of the capital dredging and paved the path for considerable cost saving for the maintenance phase of the project.

Maintenance dredging will keep Payra Port accessible

Jan De Nul will perform the maintenance dredging of the port in the next phase of the project. Three Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers will be deployed to the Rabnabad Channel of Payra Port to fulfil the dredging requirements of the coming years.

With its partners, Payra Port Authority and CDR International, Jan De Nul is confident it will enhance the further development of the huge potential of Bangladesh and its ports.