Four more vessels made in Ctg
Western Marine Shipyard (WMS), a local shipbuilding company, handed over two vessels to the government and two others to a German company here yesterday.
EMS Wave and EMS Tide, the third pair of 12 ice-class cargo vessels wanted by Germany's Grona Shipping GmbH by 2012, were handed over to the company's Managing Director Abbe Prins.
Each of the vessels was built at a cost of Tk 100 crore and has a capacity of carrying 5,200 tonnes of weight safely.
The WMS also handed over PV Rakkhi, a pilot vessel, to the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) and Bir Sreshtho Ruhul Amin, a Ro Ro ferry, to BIWTC. The 60-metre long ferry can carry 27 trucks, 340 passengers, and 27 crewmembers.
Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan was the chief guest at the vessel delivery ceremony held on the newly built Ro Ro Ferry anchored at CPA Marine Workshop Ghat in Agrabad.
He said the government is keen to promote shipbuilding as a major exporting industry.
BIWTC Chairman Golam Mostafa Kamal said the state-owned corporation for the first time is collecting an international quality ferry built by a local shipbuilder.
Rolf Dieter Reinhard, deputy head of mission of the German Embassy in Bangladesh, said German ship owners are now among the largest customers of Bangladesh shipping industries.
Shipbuilding is the key industry in the German economy, said Rolf, adding, “I think the German shipping and shipbuilding industry, therefore, have a lot to offer to Bangladeshi shipbuilders.”
Grona Shipping Managing Director Abbe Prins said more German buyers would come to Bangladesh with more orders in the coming years as the country's shipbuilding sector has already earned a good name.
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