CPA leased out 3 vessels to private sector

Sarwar, Chittagong Bureau :
Chittagong Port Authority ( CPA) handed over three container carrier vessels to Summit Alliance Port Ltd – a sister concern of Summit Group in a formal ceremony yesterday.
CPA procured these vessels for carrying container vessels to Pangaon Inland Terminal of Narayangonj 22 months ago . Failing to fulfill the operation of these vessels , these container vessels were handed over to private concern on lease basis with daily rent of Tk.1.38 lakh per working day through tender bidding. All expenditures relates to these vessels will bear by the leasee, sources said.
Shipping Minister Md. Shahjahan Khan MP formally handed over these vessels to Summit Group Chairman yesterday afternoon at New Mooring Container Terminal as Chief Guest.
The names of these vessels are -MV Pangaon Express,MV Pangaon Success and MV Pangaon Vision which procured from a Malaysian Shipping company at a cost of Tk.50 crores in 2013 and 2014.
 Mentionable that CPA could not attract the importers and exporters to carry containers to Pangaon terminal from Chittagong Port through waterways to avoid the road congestions and minimizing the transport costs since procurement of the vessels.
 Once CPA tried to carry containers in between Chittagong and Kolkata port which also foiled.
Lastly to avoid the huge overhead expenditures and losses of these vessels, CPA decided to lease out these vessels on rent to private sector shipping company recently.
Among others, local legislator MA Latif , Secretary of the Ministry Shafique Alam Mehedi, CPA chairman Rear Admiral Nizamudin Ahmed, chairman of Summit Group Md. Aziz Khan, Captain of Summit Alliance Port Ltd Asif Mahmud and the senior officials of CPA were present in the ceremony.