The Bay of Bengal is the largest bay in the world. Its ports handle 33% of world trade. 50% of the world's container traffic passes through the region, particularly along the busy shipping routes at the southern tip of the bay around Sri Lanka where Colombo and Hambantota are transshipment hubs. The Indian coastline along the western part of the bay is home to ten major seaports, including Chennai, Kolkata and Vizag. The port city of Yangon handles most of the maritime trade of Myanmar. Thailand's Andaman port in Ranong is used as a gateway for maritime traffic from South Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Chittagong is the busiest container port on the Bay of Bengal. In 2024, Chittagong handled 3.3 million TEUs of container traffic generated by Bangladesh's US$130 billion external trade. Chittagong handles 98% of Bangladesh's containerized traffic. Chittagong is also the least efficient trade hub for container traffic in Asia, ranking 341st on the Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) which assesses the efficiency of 370 ports in the world. According to Lloyd's List, Chittagong is also the 67th busiest container port in the world.
The Bay of Bengal is now a zone of competition between Asia's great powers, particularly India and China. India has sought to reinforce its strategic depth in the bay by funding port development in Myanmar's Sittwe Port as part of the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Project to bypass Bangladesh in linking Northeast India with the Bay of Bengal. Historically, Chittagong was the maritime gateway to Northeast India during British rule. India has also planned an International Container Transshipment Port (ICTP) in Galathea Bay on Great Nicobar Island.
China has considered the Bay of Bengal as its "second coastline". The China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) is considered the crown jewel of China's Belt and Road Initiative. It will connect Yunnan Province in southwest China to the Bay of Bengal through Myanmar. The flagship project of CMEC is the US$1.3 billion scheme to develop Kyaukphyu Port in Rakhine State, which also includes a Special Economic Zone. Myanmar's territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal contain significant hydrocarbon reserves. China provides 70% of Myanmar's FDI in the energy sector.
Japan proposed the 'Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt Initiative' (BIG-B) during the tenure of the late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. The concept promotes an industrialized belt stretching from Dhaka to Chittagong to Cox's Bazar and integration with global supply chains. Bangladesh's coastline includes four seaports, including Chittagong, Mongla, Payra and Matarbari. The port of Matarbari has attracted Japanese funding and investment. It is being developed as an LNG and coal trading hub. On the southwestern coast of Bangladesh, the ports of Mongla and Payra have potential to cater to a hinterland in western Bangladesh, as well as Nepal and Bhutan. Mongla is the second largest container port in Bangladesh.
Realizing the economic potential of Chittagong and other ports is imperative for Bangladesh to position itself as an economic powerhouse of the Bay of Bengal region. But vested interests, including trade unions which oppose foreign investment in ports, have obstructed Bangladesh's leadership from taking decisive and strategic decisions to increase port efficiency. Ultimately, these vested interests are benefitting competing external powers and obstructing Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority is pushing for greater foreign investment in ports in order to lure in global best practices to increase efficiency. Several ports in South Asia are managed by global port management companies. DP World has operations in India and Pakistan. The Singapore Port Authority manages India's premier container port in Mumbai.
Naval bases around the bay are also being built as countries seek to provide security for shipping. Bangladesh has developed a submarine base in Pekua. India has consolidated its naval presence in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Chinese radar vessels have frequented the bay to monitor Indian missile tests and naval activity. China reportedly has access to Myanmar's naval facilities around the Bay of Bengal, including in the Coco Islands.
The Bay of Bengal is today surrounded by a string of strategically important ports, from Kyaukphyu and Sittwe in Myanmar to Galathea Bay in Great Nicobar to Hambantota in Sri Lanka. These ports are attracting economic and military interest from great powers.
Umran Chowdhury is Assistant Editor of the Dhaka Courier and a Research Associate at the Cosmos Foundation and Bay of Bengal Institute.
