The government is all set to import six cargo ships from China to transport commodities and fuel.
Four out of the six ships are mother product oil tankers (diesel carriers) with a capacity of 80,000 ton and the rest of the two vessels with capacity of 140,000 cbm will be used as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers.
Sources said that there is now a scope of tourism in South Asia and South East Asia in addition to transporting products and cargoes through the channel. The imports are expected to boost the business sector, bring in forex as well as create job opportunities.
“The procurement of these ships have been made in order to strengthen and make Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) more effective,” Shipping Secretary Abdus Samad said.
“These ships in addition to transporting government products will also be rented,” he added, saying that this will both reduce expenses and help bring in profit.
Shipping ministry sources said that BSC has already finalised agreements to procure six ships from China National Machinery Import (CMC) and Export Corporation and the government is planning to purchase six more.
State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury recently visited the CMC offices in Beijing to talk about the purchase of six more ships.
In order to turn BSC into a profitable organisation, the government undertook a Tk 15.37 billion project among which China aided with Tk 10 million.
So far five ships- MV Banglar Joyjatra, MV Banglar Shamriddhi, MV Banglar Arjan, MV Banglar Agrajatra and MV Banglar Agradut- have been added to BSC’s fleet.
The state minister had visited China to attend the inauguration of the sixth ship ‘MV Banglar Agragati.’
Meanwhile, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved a $ 25 million project to procure the rest of the six ships.
The BSC purchased 38 ships since its establishment in 1972. Due to suffering losses over the years the ships have been sold off and the corporation was left with two lighterage tankers. With the newly added ships, BSC has a fleet of eight ships.
