Chattogram Draft Limit: Tide Table, Not a Fixed Number

Practical position. Draft shortage keeps the vessel at outer anchorage until lighterage or tide allows the channel move. Confirm the current CPA permissible-draft notice for the vessel, not a standing figure from an earlier call.

Practical position. Chattogram draft is not a fixed published number on the website. Channel, bar and jetty limits follow the current CPA permissible-draft notice, tide and vessel-specific pilot order. Draft shortage keeps the vessel locked at outer anchorage until lighterage or tide opens the move.

The question comes up regularly when owners are planning a Bangladesh voyage: can we load the vessel to full draft, or do we need to leave cargo behind to make the port? Queue position, berth prospect, permissible draft, pilot boarding and cargo-working conditions can change with the latest CPA notice, tide, traffic, equipment, labour and receiver readiness.

At Chittagong, the answer depends on the vessel's draft, the state of the tide at the time of entry, and whether the cargo can be partially discharged at anchorage onto lighters before the vessel proceeds to berth. At Mongla, the answer is even more constrained, the Pussur River channel is a genuine limiting factor that eliminates certain vessel types from the trade entirely. At Matarbari, the situation is fundamentally different: the new deep-water channel removes the draft constraint that defines the other two ports.

Getting this calculation right before you fix the voyage is considerably cheaper than getting it wrong after the vessel is at the outer anchorage with cargo she can't deliver to the berth.

The Chittagong Bar: Understanding the Constraint

Chittagong port sits on the Karnaphuli River, and access from the outer anchorage to the jetties requires crossing the outer bar. The bar is the shallowest point on the approach channel, and it is the constraint around which all large vessel operations at Chittagong are planned.

The bar draft at Chittagong, the maximum draft at which a vessel can cross, is not a fixed number. It varies with the tide, and the tide at Chittagong has a significant range. The mean tidal range is roughly 3 to 4 metres depending on the phase of the moon, which means the crossing window for a deep-draft vessel can be a matter of hours around the high tide peak.

The Chittagong Port Authority publishes daily tidal predictions, and the harbour master coordinates vessel movements around these windows. Ship movement at Chittagong typically commences four to five hours before the predicted high tide, and the harbour master requires 24 hours' advance consultation before any vessel movement.

The practical bar draft limit for normal operations is in the range of 9.0 to 9.5 metres, with some flexibility at spring high tide for vessels that have been specifically approved. A vessel drawing more than this at arrival needs to address her draft before she can cross to the berth, either by lightening at anchorage or by waiting for a higher tide.

Handysize and Supramax: The Comfortable Range

For Handysize bulk carriers, typically 28,000 to 40,000 DWT, and Supramax vessels in the 50,000 to 60,000 DWT range, Chittagong is generally workable within the bar draft constraint. These vessel types, loaded to a typical laden draft of 9 to 10.5 metres, are within the range where careful tidal planning, and sometimes a modest draft reduction, allows them to cross the bar and proceed to berth.

In practice, this means working with your agent to calculate the loaded draft against the predicted tidal window on the vessel's expected arrival date. If the vessel arrives with a draft of 9.2 metres and the tidal window gives 9.5 metres, she crosses. If she arrives at 9.8 metres on a neap tide that only gives 9.2 metres, she waits, or she lighterages.

For grain, fertiliser, and coal voyages in Handysize and Supramax vessels, this planning is routine and manageable. The key is doing the calculation before the voyage commences, not when the vessel is already at anchorage.

Panamax: Where It Gets More Complicated

Panamax bulk carriers, typically 65,000 to 80,000 DWT, with laden drafts often exceeding 12 metres, are too deep to cross the Chittagong bar on any normal tidal window. For Panamax vessels trading to Chittagong, the lighterage operation at anchorage is not a contingency. It is the plan.

This is what "lighterage operations at Chittagong outer anchorage" means in practice: the Panamax arrives at the outer anchorage, fully laden, and lighter vessels, smaller barges, come alongside to take off cargo. The mother vessel sits at anchor throughout this process, riding the tide and swinging with the current. The current at Chittagong outer anchorage runs at 6 to 7 knots at strength, which makes lighter vessel handling genuinely demanding. The lighters secure to the mother vessel using their own mooring lines, and adequate fendering is essential, damage during lighterage operations, both to the mother vessel and to the lighters, is a real risk if the operation isn't managed carefully.

The lighterage operation continues until the mother vessel's draft has reduced to a level where she can cross the bar on the tidal window. Depending on the vessel's size, the cargo quantity, and the number of lighters deployed, this can take several days. During that time, the vessel is at anchorage, the hire clock or the laytime clock is running, and the cargo is moving to shore in stages rather than in a single discharge operation.

For charterers, the cost structure of a Panamax lighterage operation at Chittagong is materially different from a straightforward berth discharge. The lighter hire, the mooring equipment, the additional time, these need to be factored into the voyage economics before the cargo is fixed. For owners, the critical question is whether the charter party clearly allocates lighterage costs and addresses the laytime treatment of anchorage operations.

Capesize: Generally Not for Chittagong

Capesize vessels, 100,000 DWT and above, with laden drafts typically exceeding 16 to 18 metres, are not practical for Chittagong under any tidal scenario. The bar simply doesn't allow it, and the quantity of cargo that would need to be lightered off before a Capesize could cross the bar makes the operation uneconomical.

Bangladesh's power sector imports of coal, which have grown substantially in recent years, have historically been handled in Panamax and Supramax vessels at Chittagong and Mongla precisely because of this constraint. The arrival of Matarbari changes this calculation entirely, but more on that below.

Mongla: The Pussur River Constraint

Mongla port sits on the Pussur River in the Sundarbans region of southwestern Bangladesh. The river approach from the Bay of Bengal is the defining constraint of the port.

The Pussur River channel has a depth that limits vessels to a maximum draft of approximately 7.5 to 8.0 metres at high tide, depending on the specific berth and the current river condition. This is considerably shallower than Chittagong, which means the practical vessel size for Mongla is Handysize, and even within the Handysize category, loaded draft management is critical.

A Supramax vessel attempting Mongla at full draft is almost certainly going to have a problem. The river channel is the constraint, not just the berth, and a vessel that grounds in the Pussur River is in a situation that is both operationally serious and environmentally sensitive given the Sundarbans UNESCO World Heritage context.

The tidal window for Mongla is even more critical than Chittagong because the tidal range on the Pussur is smaller and the depth margin less forgiving. Your agent needs to run the tidal calculation for the specific vessel and the specific arrival date, not apply a general rule of thumb.

For cargo types that can be handled at Mongla, smaller bulk parcels, some general cargo, smaller container moves, the port is a useful alternative to Chittagong and is often less congested. But the vessel size selection must start with the Pussur River draft constraint, not end with it.

Matarbari: The Game Changer for Large Vessels

Matarbari deep-sea port is located on the coast of Cox's Bazar district, 34 nautical miles from Chittagong. Unlike Chittagong and Mongla, it is a coastal port with direct deep-water access, no river approach, no bar crossing, no tidal constraint of the type that defines the other two ports.

The Matarbari approach channel is reported at about 16 metres, with a deeper phase planned; sediment reduced its depth in sections in 2026 and emergency dredging followed, and the deep-sea port itself is targeted for operation by 2029. Confirm the current channel depth with the port authority before planning a call. Once the deep-sea port is operating, a channel of this depth is intended to take vessels drawing more than the Chittagong bar or the Pussur River allow.

For the coal trade, this is transformative. A Capesize coal carrier that previously had to tranship to Panamax feeders at Colombo or Port Klang to reach Bangladesh can now deliver directly to Matarbari. The cost differential between a direct Capesize call and a transhipment operation is substantial, and as Matarbari's commercial operations expand, this will increasingly influence how Bangladesh's power sector coal supply chain is organised.

For the LNG trade, Matarbari is already handling vessel calls related to the FSRU-based LNG import terminal. Large LNG carriers that cannot physically enter Chittagong have been calling at Matarbari since the channel became operational.

The caveat is the one that comes with any newly operational facility: vessel services at Matarbari, bunkers, fresh water, chandling, spare parts clearance, crew change logistics, are not yet at the level of infrastructure that exists at Chittagong after decades of commercial operation. This will improve as the port develops, but owners planning Matarbari calls should confirm the current availability of support services through their agent, not assume that what's available at Chittagong is automatically available at Matarbari.

The Voyage Planning Calculation

For any owner planning a Bangladesh call, the vessel selection question should be answered in this sequence:

Start with the cargo quantity and type. How much cargo, and where is it going, which port, which terminal?

Match the vessel to the port's draft constraint. Chittagong: what's the predicted tidal window on the expected arrival date, and what draft does that give you? Mongla: does the Pussur River depth on that tide support the vessel's laden draft? Matarbari: is the vessel within the channel's design parameters?

Calculate the lighterage requirement if applicable. If the vessel needs to lighten at Chittagong anchorage, how many days does that add, and what does it cost? Is the charter party structured to account for this?

Confirm terminal and berth suitability. Not all Chittagong berths are the same. A bulk berth that can accommodate a Supramax may not have the crane capacity or the storage area to efficiently discharge that vessel. Your agent should be confirming terminal suitability as part of pre-arrival planning, not just berth availability.

Build in a contingency for tidal delay. If the vessel's arrival is a few hours off the preferred tidal window, how does that affect the port call timeline? A vessel that arrives six hours after the tidal window has closed at Chittagong waits for the next window. That's twelve hours of anchorage time that wasn't in the original estimate.

The Practical Summary

Chittagong can handle Handysize and Supramax vessels without lighterage at most tidal states, and Panamax vessels with lighterage at anchorage. Capesize is generally not viable. Mongla is Handysize and smaller only. Matarbari is where the large-draft vessel trade is heading, and for Capesize coal and large LNG carriers, it's the only viable Bangladesh option.

None of this is surprising to operators who have worked the Bangladesh market for a few years. But it is exactly the kind of operational detail that owners approaching Bangladesh for the first time need to have clear before they fix the voyage, because the tidal window, the bar draft, and the lighterage cost are not footnotes. They are the central variables of the Bangladesh port economics.