Chittagong, 30 August 2012: Country’s leading shipbuilder New Western Marine Shipbuilders Ltd has handed over two double hull tankers to Carbon Holdings & Coastal Gas Ltd. The tankers named MT Pride of Shah Ali & MT Pride of Shah Jalal will be used to transport fuel oil across the country.
The keel laying ceremony of these tankers were held last year. Each tanker is 63.80 meter long with capacity of 1,350 DWT. The vessels were built under the supervision of German classification society Germanischer Lloyd (GL).
These tankers would play a vital role in elimination of power crisis in Bangladesh as the tankers would be used to carry fuel safely & cost-effectively in various fuel generated power plant sites, which would add a great value to the economy. As per MARPOL regulation all tankers in the world must be double hull from 2015. This is to avoid spillage of oil from major accident which may hamper marine life badly. The tankers built by Western Marine complies the latest compliances. They are environment friendly, class approved & cost effective than any brand new ships built abroad.
It is to be mentioned that secondhand ships brought from abroad are not double hulled. In case of any major destruction these ships might cause a severe calamity from oil spillage. Study says in River Karnaphuli at-least 10 lac people will be affected & might suffer from deadly diseases if a single hulled tanker gets wrecked in the river. But in the other hand double hulled tankers has lesser chances of such disaster.
The ships were inaugurated by Mr. Abubakar Siddique, the chairman (Secretary in-charge) of Bangladesh Petroleum Corp (BPC) as the Chief Guest. Amongst others Mr. Saraf Uddin Ahmed, Additional Secretary & Director (Finance) and Mr. Mizanur Rahman managing director of Jamuna oil company were present as special guests. The MD of NCC Bank Limited Mr. Mohammed Nurul Amin represented as the financer of the whole project. The ships were inaugurated floating near Western Marine Shipyard.
Western Marine Chairman, Md. Saiful Islam emphasized saying new built tankers in Bangladesh are saving our hard earned foreign currency & it has created an opportunity for thousands of skilled & semi skilled workers in the country.
Addressing the ceremony the shipyard MD Sakhawat Hossain said that Bangladesh needs more tankers to transport oil through river routes to reduce traffic congestion on roads.
Managing Director of Carbon Holdings, Dr. Ezazur Rahman hoped that this project will prove to be very successful in the near future.
The Chief Guest, BPC Chairman mentioned that Western Marine is contributing to the nation through newbuilding of such tankers locally.
Therefore, tanker owners should buy ships locally from shipyard like Western Marine which are class approved and complies latest IMO guidelines (double hull), rather procuring unsafe secondhand ships from abroad.
