Shipping Corp proposes buying 6 vessels for int'l container transport

After securing Chinese financing for buying four ships for transporting oil, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) has taken an initiative to buy six more cellular vessels.

The cellular vessels – ships specially designed for efficient storage of freight containers – will initially transport cargo from Chattogram to Singapore, and later to various ports, including in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, said sources at the Shipping Corporation.

People involved in the sector said Bangladesh loses a huge amount of foreign currency as freight cost as it is heavily dependent on foreign vessels for carrying cargo.

In order to reduce dependence on foreign ships and to save foreign exchange, development of this sector by acquiring more ships is essential, said the Shipping Corporation officials.

A preliminary project proposal for buying the six vessels was sent to the Planning Commission on 6 April. After securing the Planning Commission's in-principle approval, the proposal will be sent to development partners for foreign loans through the Economic Relations Division (ERD), said a Planning Commission official.

Meanwhile, the proposal to buy four ships for carrying oil – two crude-oil mother tankers and two bulk carriers – was approved at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) Tuesday.

The project will be implemented with Chinese funding on a government-to-government basis, Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian, member (secretary) of the Physical Infrastructure Division of Planning Commission, told TBS.

Currently, the Shipping Corporation has a mixed fleet of eight vessels with a capacity of 0.30 million tonnes. The fleet comprises three bulk carriers, three old chemical tankers and two lighter vessels.

Over 90% of the national export and import of Bangladesh are being carried by ocean borne vessels.

In international shipping trade, movement of containerised cargo has been increasing for the last three decades, a trend which may continue in the coming years. To keep up with the rapid growth of containerised cargo transportation in Bangladesh, the Shipping Corporation started operating a container feeder service on the Chattogram-Singapore route in 1993.

Officials said, at that time three vessels – Banglar Robi, Banglar Moni and Banglar Shikha – were involved in the service. Among them, Banglar Shikha was the only container vessel and Banglar Robi and Banglar Moni were multipurpose vessels, which are generally used for carrying miscellaneous cargo, such as general cargo, containerised cargo, break-bulk.

6 vessels to generate Tk2,261cr annual income

The cellular vessels proposed to be procured will initially transport around 6 lakh TEUs (twenty –foot equivalent units) containerised cargo per year, saving a huge amount of foreign currency, said the Shipping Corporation.

According to the project proposal, the annual income from the vessels is estimated to be Tk2,261.15 crore, while their annual operating cost will be Tk1,215.11 crore.

The cost of the project to procure six cellular vessels is estimated at Tk3,836.83 crore ($358.58 million), including bank charges, vessels registration, buyer's surveyors fee, tax and vat, and logistic items. 

About 92% of the project cost is proposed to be financed with external debt.

China to provide Tk2,486cr for four oil carriers

The cost of the project to procure four oil carriers is estimated at Tk2,620 crore, of which, China will provide Tk2,486 crore (95%) as loans.

The two crude oil tankers to be procured under the project will have a capacity of 1.14 lakh tonnes each, and the two bulk carriers will have a capacity of 80,000 tonnes each.

Officials of the Planning Commission said extensive development programmes are taken in view of the government's vision 2041. Consequently, the amount of oil import is increasing gradually to meet the country's growing demand.

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation has taken up a project, "Installation of Single Point Mooring (SPM) with Double Pipeline", to import crude oil and refined products in an orderly manner. If the project is implemented, crude oil and refined products will be transferred directly from the Bay of Bengal to the depots through tankers. The programme will commence in the current financial year.