The role of Chittagong port to support MSR in providing maritime transport facilities through intermodal in Asia

Abstract

Among the seaports in the Bay of Bengal, Chittagong port is in a lucrative position to cover the maximum spatial transportation in Asia. Probably, China-proposed Maritime Silk Road (MSR) under the banner of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) had overlooked Chittagong port as maritime load centre in the South Asian region due to geopolitical issue. A recent performance of Chittagong port in terms of container throughput and considering the hinterland potentiality by MSR, Chittagong port is visualized load centre or connector in the region attractively. The intermodal freight transportation system brought the new dimension in the port regionalization. Driven in particular, Chittagong port’s geographical position and performance are two important indicators in serving through the intermodal system to the region timely and economically. The main objective of port development in Bangladesh is to act as maritime load centre of MSR and offer port services not only for Bangladesh but also to provide maritime transport facilities as well as seaport access to the landlocked countries Nepal and Bhutan, naturally locked part of India, southwest part of China and neighbouring country Myanmar for regional development. In addition to the literature review, this research used a qualitative research method with the combination of primary and secondary data collected from the field. Moreover, one network model is designed on how Chittagong port will provide the hinterland services to the region and implement the dictum of MSR and BRI. Overall, this paper aims to investigate the potentiality of Chittagong port to serve as a regional maritime load centre of MSR for developing an integrated intermodal freight transportation system in Asia.