Shipping has started to pass through the new channel dredged in the outer bar of Mongla port. The project titled "Dredging at the Outer Bar Area of Mongla Port Channel" for handling 10.5 m draft vessels in the anchorage area of ​​Mongla Port was approved at the ECNEC meeting at an estimated cost of Tk 712.50 crore. After the approval of the project, Hong Kong River Engineering Co. Ltd.-China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation JV signed the agreement on December 13, 2018. The contractor started dredging after the contract was signed. The dredging area is divided into two sections, one of which is located about 20 km south of Hiron Point in the open sea and the other section is adjacent to Hiron Point. After completing the section within the sea and about 85% of the dredging of the adjoining section at Hiron point creating a channel with a depth of 8.5 m CD depth in the entire channel from the fairway buoy to Hiron Point. It should be noted that this channel is located on the west side of the currently used channel along Bangabandhu Char. Ships of higher drafts could not come to the port as the existing channel had a minimum depth of 6.5 m  CD in some places from Fairway Buoy to Hiron Point. But after Hiron Point to Harbaria Anchorage, it has a depth of 8.5m CD and in some anchorages is 10.5 m CD to berth ships. Ships of high draft could not be brought to the anchorage of the port only for the limitation of the outer bar. Besides, the current channel is quite zigzag. As a result of dredging at a depth of 8.5m CD, the port is now facilitated to bring ships of 10.5 m draft at high tide. Shipping has started from November 17, 2020 after installing buoy on the new dredged channel. As the new channel is relatively safe, it takes less time for ships to reach the port and the ships are able to arrive safely. This will greatly increase the number of ships in the port and the revenue is increasing. So far the overall progress of the project is 95% and the remaining work will be completed by December 2020. It should be noted that, As one of the ENR-listed top 100 global contractors for consecutive nineteen years with a global business network in 103 countries and regions, CCECC has been engaged in a wide spectrum of infrastructure projects worldwide in diverse fields such as railway, road, elevated expressway, bridge, marine works including dredging, and housing projects in the capacity of an EPC Contractor or a private investor. Since its incorporation in Bangladesh from 2015, CCECC has been engaged in 10 no.s infrastructure development projects totaling more than 2.0 Billion US Dollars in the domains of railway engineering, dredging and marine works, and roads and highways. AH  

Bangladesh lodged an amended submission on the limits of its outer continental shelf in the Bay of Bengal to the United Nations on Thursday. The Submission has formally been handed over by the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN, Ambassador Rabab Fatima to Dmitry Gonchar, the Acting Director of Division of Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea (DOALOS). While handing over the Executive Summary of the Submission, Fatima expressed expectations that the amended submission would be included in the agenda of the Commission in its next session, said the Bangladesh Mission on Friday. She also highlighted that the determination of the outer continental shelf would enable Bangladesh to explore and utilise natural resources of the seabed and subsoil in those areas.  The original submission to the CLCS was made on February 25, 2011. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the maritime boundaries of Bangladesh with Myanmar and India were delimited in 2012 and 2014, through the international adjudication process. The amended submission has been made to reflect the successful outcomes of those international processes. As per rule, a sub-commission will subsequently be formed which will examine the information provided by Bangladesh and upon satisfaction, make necessary recommendations on the limits of Bangladesh’s outer continental shelf in the Bay. The amended submission has been prepared by an expert team led by the Maritime Affairs Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with support from local and international experts. Source: UNB AH

Rising space power China on Monday attacked the newly created U.S. Space Force as a "direct threat to outer space peace and security." Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters that China is "deeply concerned about it and resolutely opposed to it." "The relevant U.S. actions are a serious violation of the international consensus on the peaceful use of outer space, undermine global strategic balance and stability, and pose a direct threat to outer space peace and security," Geng said at a regular briefing. China's space program has advanced rapidly since its first crewed mission in 2003. In a report last February, the Pentagon asserted that China and Russia have embarked on major efforts to develop technologies that could allow them to disrupt or destroy American and allied satellites in a crisis or conflict. China in 2007 conducted an unannounced missile strike against one of its own defunct satellites, creating an enormous amount of space debris. Geng dismissed such concerns, calling them "unfounded counter charges" that merely provided the U.S. with a justification for its own actions. China, he said, has consistently opposed the weaponization of space and believes international treaties on arms control in outer space need to be negotiated. "We hope that the international community, especially the major powers concerned, will adopt a cautious and responsible attitude to prevent outer space from becoming a new battlefield and work together to maintain lasting peace and tranquility in outer space," he said. The establishment of the Space Force is seen by the U.S. military as a recognition of the need to more effectively organize for the defense of U.S. interests in space — especially satellites used for navigation and communication. The Space Force is not designed or intended to put combat troops in space. Space has "evolved into a war-fighting domain of its own," Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters Friday. Space has become increasingly important to the U.S. economy and to everyday life. The Global Positioning System, for example, provides navigation services to the military as well as civilians. Its constellation of about two dozen orbiting satellites is operated by the 50th Space Wing from an operations center at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado. China has established a similar, independent network, the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, assembled from 42 separate satellite launches. Source: AP/UNB AH