Western Marine has inaugurated the construction work of another 176 TEUs container vessel through a keel laying ceremony on the 24th of August, 2014 in the shipyard premises located in Patiya. The container ship will be owned & operated by M R Global Limited & she will be built under French class Bureau Veritas (BV). The Chairman of M R Global Ltd Mr. Salim Chowdhury who is also known to be the Chairman of BPL T-20 Championship Cricket team Dhaka Gladiators & the Managing Director of the same company Mr. Shihab Chowdhury were present in the ceremony. Amongst others the EVP & Chief Manager of Trust Bank Limited Mr. Hossain Shah Ali were also present as Trust Bank is the financing bank to M R Global Limited for this project.
The ship will be able to carry 176 TEUs of containers from Chittagong Port to the newly developed Pangaon Inland Container Terminal (PICT) in Narayanganj. This way inbound container will be transported to Dhaka by inland river route which shall reduce our traffic density in highways.
Mr. Salim Chowdhury has praised on Western Marine’s quality shipbuilding and has mentioned that undoubtedly the shipyard will build the best vessel for him. He has also mentioned the vessel MV SIARA ERESHVA will ply in the water very soon marking its contribution in the national economy of Bangladesh.
Shipyard MD Sakhawat Hossain said Western Marine has exported eight (8) container ships (multi-purpose) in the recent past years which are plying in the European water today. This has proven the quality of shipbuilding in Bangladesh; as such Bangladeshi ship-owners should feel encouraged to purchase ships from local industry rather importing them. He said more that “we have signed contract for a total number of seven similar ships & expecting to sign contract for more five ships as in the pipeline.
Chairman Saiful Islam said Western Marine is already building five more similar container ships which shall serve the PICT. After the Global Financial Crisis & National Political Crisis the market is emerging once again & these new building projects will add great value to our economy.
The ships will make a major contribution in our economy for port service enhancement & at the same time she will play a major role in reduction of traffic density in highways by transporting the mass imported goods by river. This way for the first time container ships will ply in our inland channels, which has never been experienced before.