APM Terminals has formally started construction of a $550m container terminal at Chattogram Port in Bangladesh that will add more than 800,000 TEU of annual capacity and handle containerships of up to 6,000 TEU, according to Bangladesh’s Ministry of Shipping.
Construction of the Laldia Container Terminal began on 30 August with an 11am groundbreaking ceremony at Laldia Char in Patenga, near the mouth of the Karnaphuli River.
APM Terminals is developing the 49.15-acre project with the Chattogram Port Authority and Bangladeshi equity partner QNS Container Services Ltd under a public-private partnership. The new terminal will be able to handle containerships of up to 6,000 TEU with a draught of about 10.5 metres. Chattogram currently handles vessels of about 2,700 TEU.
Bangladesh’s containerised cargo currently relies heavily on feeder ships connecting through regional hubs including Colombo and Singapore.
The terminal is planned with seven ship-to-shore gantry cranes, 32 electric rubber-tyred gantry cranes and 41 electric terminal tractors, along with solar power and shore-power-ready infrastructure. APM Terminals will design, finance, build and operate the terminal, while the land will remain under Chattogram Port Authority ownership.
Construction is scheduled to take three years, with commissioning targeted by 2030. The agreement provides for 30 years of operation after construction, with an option to extend the term by up to 15 years subject to compliance with its terms. The project is expected to create 500 to 700 direct jobs, as well as employment in construction, trucking, warehousing and freight forwarding.
The concession agreement was signed in November 2025 following a Bangladesh-Denmark government-to-government PPP framework dating from 2021.
APM Terminals is the ports and terminals business of Danish shipping and logistics group A.P. Moller-Maersk. Headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, it operates about 60 ports and container terminals worldwide and has operated as a separate Maersk business division since 2001.