Chittagong Bay Terminal Project

T he World Bank is preparing a €350 million investment project for the construction of breakwater and access Chanell to Bay Terminal in the Bengal Bay, west of the current terminal, with the aim of enabling large vessels to access the proposed Bay Terminal of Chittagong Port. This investment seeks to bolster Bangladesh’s trade infrastructure, address logistic shortcomings, and enhance the resilience of coastal ports in the face of climate change-induced risks, ultimately contributing to the country’s economic growth and adaptation to a changing climate. 
 
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is providing technical support to  Bangladesh in collaboration with the World Bank are to enhance the climate resilience and adaptation of the proposed bay terminal infrastructure, breakwater, access channel, and its surrounding ecosystems.  
 
This support aims to achieve a comprehensive understanding of climate risks, minimize their impacts on the bay terminal’s assets, operations, and neighboring communities through prioritized nature-based adaptation and resilience solutions. Prioritized solutions will be proposed for implementation either within the WB project, either as stand-alone investments with guidelines for implementation. 
 

Investment Value Influenced by GCA

$659 million

Beneficiaries

Chittagong port authority and its hinterland 

Implementation Period

2025-2028 

Partner

GCA’s Added Value

GCA is providing the following upstream technical assistance to the project: 

  • Comprehensive Climate Risk Assessment by quantifying main climate hazards and associated risks, including uncertainties, to the planned breakwater and access channel, under future climate scenarios. 
  • Identification and prioritization of adaptation and resilience solutions especially nature-based, with cost-benefits analysis under deep uncertainties.  
  • Technical specification for green and grey adaptation and resilience interventions proposed for implementation within the WB project.   
  • Framework for future implementation of adaptation and resilience measures in the project area, especially large-scale Nature-based interventions 
  • Capacity Building to support project stakeholders develop the knowledge and tools needed to incorporate climate risks into investment planning, through Climate-Resilient Infrastructure Masterclasses 

Expected Outcomes

  • Project`s physical output is to enable large vessels to access the proposed Bay Terminal of Chittagong Port, will be measured by an indicator of average container vessel size docking at container terminal one.  
  • The Project will enable large vessels to access the proposed Bay Terminal, create significant economy of scale by increasing berthing capacity  
  • The project will reduce vessel trips thus decrease harmful vessel emissions, increase Bangladesh’s maritime transport competitiveness, and support Bangladesh’s continued development of an export oriented and diversified economy.