Two more ocean-going vessels added to Karnaphuli

Bangladesh-grown container carrier HR Line is all set to add two more ocean-going vessels – HR Turag and HR Balu – to its fleet, according to officials of HR Lines Limited, the operator of the shipping line.

With the new addition, the number of Karnaphuli vessels will increase to eight.

The 1,100TEUs-capacity HR Turag is expected to reach the Chattogram Port on 27 January and it will move on the Bangladesh-Singapore route, while the 1,700TUEs-capacity HR Balu will move on the Bangladesh–Colombo route, HR Lines officials said.

"With the two new vessels, our shipping capacity will reach 11,840TEUs. We also plan to further increase the number of ships to our fleet," Hamdan Hossain Chowdhury, managing director of Karnaphuli Limited, told The Business Standard.

The six other vessels of the shipping lines are HR Sahare, HR Sarera, HR Rhea, HR Hera, HR Farha, and HR Aarai. Of them, four move on the Chattogram-Colombo route, and the rest two on the Chattogram–Singapore route. Some 350 Bangladeshi citizens are serving the ships.

Meanwhile, the authorities have appointed 50 more mariners for the two new ships.

"We are now amongst the top 100 global container carriers and the largest South Asian container shipping line. We started our journey 30 months back with two ships. With our total focus on schedule integrity, we are constantly increasing our capacity," Karnaphuli said in a press release.

"This is very much in harmony with our aspirations to be the premier feeder operator in the region, proudly flying the Bangladesh flag across the oceans."

"We plan to acquire more ships during the course of this year and this will facilitate further enhancement and upgradation of our feeder services connecting Chattogram with major trans-shipment hubs of Colombo, Singapore and Port Klang," the release reads.