Shipping Corporation to procure eight ships worth Tk1,843 crore from China

The Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) is set to procure eight new ships from China under a government-to-government (G2G) arrangement in a bid to break the monopoly of foreign companies in Bangladesh’s shipping and transportation business. The ships, worth Tk1,843cr, will be purchased from the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) within next year through a direct procurement method, a senior shipping ministry official wishing to remain unnamed told the Dhaka Tribune. A proposal in this regard will be placed at a meeting of the cabinet committee on economic affairs on Wednesday. The meeting is scheduled to be presided over by Finance Minister AMA Muhith. According to the proposal, four of the vessels to be procured will be cellular containers with capacities between 1200 and 1500 TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalent units), two will be mother product oil tankers for diesel transport with a capacities of 80,000 TEUs, and two will be chemical or crude oil tankers with capacities between 30,000 to 35,000 TEUs. The BSC, which is the largest public shipping company in Bangladesh, was established in 1972 with the objective of providing efficient, safe and reliable shipping services to exporters, importers and business houses. The state-owned corporation has so far procured a total of 38 ships since its inception. At present, the BSC has a mixed fleet of 13 ocean-going ships, including two tankers that are engaged in carrying seaborne cargo on different international sea routes. The average age of ships in the fleet is 20 years and the total capacity of all these ships is 1.96 lakh tons, according to the BSC website.