Bangladesh will launch an open tender to find an operator for its largest container terminal, the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) in Chittagong.

The agreement between the Port Authority and the current operator, Saif Powertec, is due to end in the first week of January and the Port Authority initially asked the shipping Ministry to approve the tender under the Direct Procurement Approach (DPM).

However, as the deadline approached, the authorities changed the proposal and sought an open tender in the hope of appointing a new operator as soon as possible.

The initial plan was to appoint a foreign operator, but progress stalled when an interim government was formed in August after the prime minister fled following the outbreak of protests.

Dp World has said it intends to invest $1 billion in 2020 to build ports, container terminals and infrastructure, and is holding high-level talks with the government and DP World's chief executive officer for the Middle East, North Africa and Indian Subcontinent, Rizwan Soomar. The company is believed to still be interested in the project.

Saif Powertec is also said to want to continue operating the terminal, but the company has faced complaints about service levels, among other issues. The company's dominance of the port is alleged to have prevented local companies with expertise from applying to operate the port.

With the formation of the new government, the negotiation process has slowed down due to opposition from some in the port industry to foreign operators operating NCT.

Chittagong Port Authority spokesman Omar Farooq said: "We are waiting for ministry approval to start the tender process by way of an open tender to appoint a new operator for NCT. The current agreement expires on January 7.

"We cannot allow port operations to remain closed until a new operator is found. Therefore, we have continued to work with existing operators through direct purchases. As soon as we can appoint a new operator, we will cancel the agreement and hand over the terminal.

"There has been no visible progress in appointing foreign operators," he added.

NCT, with 1,000m of berths and spare facilities on a 65-acre site, began vessel operations in May 2007 with Saif Powertec as operator. The pier has five berths with a maximum length of 186 meters and a draft of 9.5 meters. According to Saif Powertec, the terminal has 10 shore gantry cranes, a mobile port crane and 90 internal transfer vehicles.

It also has a 292,287 SQM container storage yard for standby operations with a reefer container plug capacity of 700 (based on a four-day stay) and a total annual handling capacity of 1,198,295 TEUs.