Carnival Cruise: A brand-new launch cum ferry that will save travel time

Mahbub Hawlader was busy taking off the newspapers stuck on the walls of Carnival Cruise. The papers were used to protect the exterior while the launch's interior was designed and painted. 

Thirty five-year-old Mahbub works as an interior designer and painter for launches but he never worked on anything like the Carnival Cruise. Along with him, around 50 others were busy giving a finishing touch to this launch - the first of its kind in Bangladesh. It was docked at the Seven Star Dock in the Bibir Bazar area in Keraniganj. 

This passenger launch built by Carnival Cruise Line Limited can also carry vehicles, especially cars. In fact, it can carry 40 cars at a time. The ground floor is constructed in the model of a Ro-Ro (roll on-roll off ferry where vehicles can drive straight on and off) ferry. 

The launch, which will start plying the Dhaka-Bhola route from 7 september, has a total of 60 double cabins and 100 chairs. Around 100 passengers can travel on the deck. 

Director of Carnival Cruise Line Limited, Masum Khan, said that the new launch will save Bhola-bound passengers' time as well as cost. 

In 2021, Masum Khan was visiting Patuakhali along with State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury and former Chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Commodore Golam Sadeq. At that time, the minister brought up the idea of having a ferry within a launch in the country. 

"From then on the minister as well as the BIWTA chairman kept inspiring me to introduce such a launch," he said.  

They discussed that this launch will gain popularity, be it on the Dhaka-Barishal route or others. The Padma Bridge was still under construction at that time and ferries were scarce at the Mawa Ghat and Aricha Ghat.  

Masum's companies Carnival Cruise Line Limited and MK Shipping Line now operate five launches. Two of them ply the Dhaka-Barguna route, two others the Dhaka-Nazirpur route and another operates on the Dhaka-Ilisha route.   

However, the opening of Padma Bridge last year has changed the scenario of waterways to a great extent. 

Masum Khan said that the number of passengers has come down in some districts after the bridge was opened. Many launches that once plied the Amtali, Barguna and Patuakhali routes are not operating on the routes any longer. 

Those launches now ply the Bhola route and some others. Therefore, on these particular routes, the number of launches has increased but the number of passengers has not.   

Last August, after the Padma Bridge was opened, Masum went to Bhola by car and it took him 12 hours. He took the route via Moju Chowdhury's Haat in Laxmipur. 

On his way back, he took the ferry from Dhaka-Laharhat Ferry Terminal in Barishal and that also took around the same time. 

He conducted a survey and found that instead of taking the highway or ferry, taking the waterway would save three hours.  

"Then I thought about bringing a launch cum ferry where passengers can carry their vehicles and it will ultimately save time and cost," he said, adding, "the waterway is safe too."

He added that he saw such vehicles in Malaysia and China and was inspired to do something like this two years back.

Local naval architect firms FBA Marine Limited and Paper Boat Marine Consultant were involved in designing the launch while Siraj Ship Builders constructed the launch. It took 10 months to complete the launch.  

According to Masum, the launch was constructed following international rules, regulations and standards. 

It takes around eight hours to reach Bhola by road. A passenger usually reaches Barishal in four hours and from there to Laharhat it takes one more hour. Then it is another two hours by ferry to cross the river. After crossing the ferry, it is another half an hour to reach Bhola. 

However, Masum claimed this launch can reach Bhola within five to five and a half hours. So, passengers can save more than two hours to go to Bhola from Dhaka and vice-versa.   

In fact, he did a calculation that says overall oil consumption will go down if people use the launch instead of going to Bhola by road using cars.  

If a single car goes to Bhola by road, it will consume, at a minimum, around 30 litres of octane. It means, if 40 cars go to Bhola, they will consume 1,200 litres of octane. If one litre of octane costs Tk130, the price of 1,200 litres of octane will stand at Tk1,56,000.

"If you calculate a trip of 1,200 cars per month (40 cars every day), the octane cost will stand at Tk3,12,000. Every day, we can save octane worth Tk3,12,000," said Masum Khan.  

"We are importing fuel by spending dollars. We can now save the dollar in this situation. Every day, we can save around $3,000 which will ultimately be added to our reserve. Monthly, we can save $90,000," said Masum. "The government can use the dollar for other purposes." 

In contrast, the launch will consume between 3,000 and 3,500 litres of diesel oil in a single trip. 

Masum Khan said that by his calculation, every day around 40 cars travel to Bhola. He hopes the cars will not go by road after the opening of the new launch. Car owners will prefer launch journeys. 

Although the fare for cars has not been fixed yet, he said travelling by launch will be more cost-efficient. "Now it takes around Tk7,000 to Tk8,000 to go to Bhola by car."  

"Primarily, we have thought that we will charge Tk5,000 to Tk6,000 for carrying a car," said Masum, adding, "if passengers stay in the cars during the journey, they will not have to pay any money."
 
However, if they want to use a cabin room or chair, the cost will increase. A double cabin room will cost Tk3,000.     

Every day around 10 launches leave Shadarghat for Bhola. The same number of launches leave Bhola for Dhaka. On average, the number of passengers stands at around 5,000 to 6,000. 

Carnival Cruise will leave every day at 8am from Hasnabad area in Keraniganj. It will leave Bhola's Ilishaghat at 9pm.  

The passengers will have to board the launch from Hasnabad, near the Postogola Bridge. Those living in Motijheel can reach Hasnabad within 10 minutes. On the other hand, the passengers can board the launch at the existing Ilishaghat in Bhola. 

Masum believes if this launch becomes successful, similar service can be introduced for passengers from Dhaka going to Hatia, Sandwip etc. Passengers from Bhola can also go to Sandwip, those from Chattogram can go to Sandwip as well as Bhola. 

"If it becomes successful, we will expand our operations," he said.