Chittagong, 16 June, 2009: The City Bank Limited and Western Marine Shipyard Limited (WMShL) recently entered into a corporate agreement sanctioning a credit facility of BDT 1.62 bln to the country’s leading shipyard WMShL, to export 02 x 5200 DWT ocean going ice-class ships (out of 12 ships) for a German company. This “Agreement Signing Ceremony” was held in a branch of the City Bank at Agrabad, Ctg. Top officials and officers from both sides who are working closely with the project were present in the occasion. These two ships are scheduled to be exported by Dec 2010.
The honorable Managing Director and Deputy Managing Director Mr. A E A Muhaimen and Mr. Syed Mahbubur Rahman from BRAC Bank’s part and Chairman Md. Saiful Islam and Managing Director Md. Sakhawat Hossain, from Western Marine’s side were present amongst others. This agreement was signed by the Managing Director of BRAC Bank Mr. AEA Muhaimen and the Managing Director of WMShL Md. Sakhawat Hossain, said a press release.
Both the organizations hoped that this agreement will prove to be very successful and the timely delivery of the two ships will not only bring prosperity and honor for the nation but will also help in developing the emerging shipbuilding sector of the country. And the tie between BRAC Bank and Western Marine Shipyard Ltd. (WMShL) will grow from strength to strength.
This yard commenced its activities in 1994 and built its modern slipways in 2000. The yard’s areas of specialization are: new building, ship modification, docking and ship repair. From 2003 to 2006 Western Marine constructed 55 vessels for the domestic market, expanding, modernizing and entering the international shipbuilding industry in 2008. Its quality management system is certified according to ISO 9001 2000.
Western Marine presently has orders for five 4,100DWT ice-class container vessels and twelve 5200DWT multi-purpose vessels and a few specialized vessels for a Finnish company. The yard is now ready in all respect to take further orders from overseas.
The speakers in this occasion gratefully acknowledged the various steps and incentives taken by the present government in terms of green channel facility, single digit bank interest and declaring shipbuilding as a thrust sector.
