THE Maheskhali Single Point Mooring, constructed to the west of the island in Cox’s Bazar under a project initially involving a cost of Tk 49.36 billion that finally reached Tk 83.41 billion after a series of revisions, has been lying idle for about two years as the government has failed to find an operator. The mooring, which China Petroleum Engineering Pipeline Co began constructing in 2015 after being awarded the job under the Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provisions) Act 2010 and finished the job in 2024, is meant to save about Tk 8 billion a year. The offshore infrastructure is built to transfer fuel oils to floating vessels or onshore storage facilities. The fuel oil will, then, be carried to the Eastern Refinery Ltd at Patenga in Chattogram, some 220 kilometres away, by cutting offloading time to only 48 hours from 11–12 days if it were done with lighterage vessels. The Chinese company handed over the mooring infrastructure to the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation in August 2024, when the Awami League, which had appointed the Chinese company as the mooring operator without any tender, fell through amidst an uprising.
But the operatorship also fell through as the controversial power-sector indemnity law was repealed in November 2024 during the interim administration. When the Petroleum Corporation put the operation of the mooring infrastructure to tender again in December 2025 after the first attempt had been aborted, only three companies — the Chinese company, Indonesia’s Pertamina and Hong Kong’s Highlong Offshore Engineering — participated. Whilst Pertamina has no operational experience of single mooring points outside Indonesia, the companies of China and Hong Kong have no significant experience in the operation and maintenance of such a highly technical mooring infrastructure. Experts put the limited response to the tender down to its terms and conditions. The Petroleum Corporation wants to award both the offshore and onshore operations to a single company, which, keeping to international practice, are carried out by separate entities. It is said that this has discouraged reputed international operators from taking part in the tender. The tender documents say that the employer can terminate the contract without giving any reasons on a 28-day notice with no provision for damages. This is another reason that holds back international operators of repute. Experts again say that it would not be wise to give the job to any company that does not have international experience.
The authorities should, therefore, put offshore and onshore operations to tender separately. They should also revise the contract termination provision, keeping to international practice, to stop such a big, expensive infrastructure from becoming a white elephant. In doing so, the authorities should look into whether lighterage vessel companies have any interest at play, as the fully functional infrastructure could harm their business.
