The Bangladesh Navy received “BNS Somudro Joy,” the largest and the heaviest Guided Missile Frigate to its fleet from the United States Coast Guard yesterday.
The US ambassador to Dhaka Dan Mozena and chief of Bangladesh Navy Vice Admiral Farid Habib welcomed the ship at the Chittagong Naval Base.
After visiting the vessel, the ambassador said the US was the largest export destination of Bangladesh and most of the export trades took place through the waterways.
The vessel would play a key role in providing a safeguard on the maritime boundary of Bangladesh, he added.
“I hope many more vessels will come to Bangladesh from the US, so that, gas, fisheries and other resources can be kept secured, alongside, curbing the rate of human resource and arms trafficking,” said Mozena.
The naval chief said they were optimistic about acquiring another frigate of such kind shortly.
“We won a maritime boundary larger than our land territory last year. The necessity of such giant frigates came following the victory to keep vigil on such a vast maritime boundary,” he added.
The 378-feet long and 43-feet wide warship had been sailing through the Pacific ocean and serving the US since 1972. It was decommissioned from the US Coast Guard in October last year.
