Shipbuilding in Bangladesh

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The Emswave is a ship built in Bangladesh Ship Emswave.jpg
The Emswave is a ship built in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a major shipbuilding nation. [1] [2] It has a long history of shipbuilding. The industry has been growth in recent years when locally made ships began to be exported. Bangladesh has now over 200 shipbuilding companies, mostly concentrated in Dhaka, Chittagong, Narayanganj, Barisal and Khulna. [3] [4] [5] Some of the leading shipbuilding companies of Bangladesh include Ananda Shipyard & Slipways Limited, FMC Dockyard Limited, Western Marine Shipyard, Chittagong Dry Dock Limited, Khulna Shipyard and Dockyard and Engineering Works.

Contents

History

Different types of boats and ships used in Bengal Boat and ship heritage of Bengal.png
Different types of boats and ships used in Bengal

Due to the riverine geography of Bangladesh, ships have been playing a major role in the trade affairs of the people of this country since the ancient times. According to the accounts of the 14th century Moroccan traveler Ibn Batuta, there used to be large fleets of warships docked in various ports of the country. A medieval European traveler Caesar Frederick documented that the port city of Chittagong and Sandwip were manufacturing hubs of large ships during the mid 15th century. The volume of shipbuilding swelled extensively during the Mughal period. During the 17th century, the shipyards of Chittagong and Sandwip used to build warships for the Sultan of Turkey. [6] [7]

Mughal era

During the Mughal Empire, the province of Bengal Subah had a large shipbuilding industry. Economic historian Indrajit Ray estimates shipbuilding output of Bengal during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries at 223,250 tons annually, compared with 23,061 tons produced in nineteen colonies in North America from 1769 to 1771. [8] He also assesses ship repairing as very advanced in Bengal. [8]

Bengali shipbuilding was advanced compared to European shipbuilding at the time. An important innovation in shipbuilding was the introduction of a flushed deck design in Bengal rice ships, resulting in hulls that were stronger and less prone to leak than the structurally weak hulls of traditional European ships built with a stepped deck design. The British East India Company later duplicated the flushed deck and hull designs of Bengal rice ships in the 1760s, leading to significant improvements in seaworthiness and navigation for European ships during the Industrial Revolution. [9]

Modern era

The Royal Navy had many warships built in Chittagong, some of which were also used in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Dockyard and Engineering Works Limited, the first modern shipyard of Bangladesh, was established in 1922, constructed during the British era in the subcontinent. After the liberation war in 1971, the dockyard was nationalized under the ministry of industries. Later it came under the control of Bangladesh Navy in 2006. [6] [7]

In 1979, the sector received its first foreign investment after the independence of Bangladesh when Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Industry, a Japanese enterprise, formed a joint venture with High Speed Shipyard of Bangladesh to establish a shipyard at Fatullah, Narayanganj. By the 2000s, several more private shipyards were established and in 2008, Bangladesh became a ship exporting country. [6]

Industry

Ships belonging to Jindal Steel Works were built in Bangladesh JSW - Western Marine Shipyard.png
Ships belonging to Jindal Steel Works were built in Bangladesh

Ananda Shipyard and Shipways Limited (ASSL), founded in 1983 on the bank of Meghna river, became the first Bangladeshi shipbuilding company to export an ocean-going ship when it transferred the locally built "Stella Maris" to a Danish firm. ASSL has since then secured several more contracts, mostly from the European countries. Western Marine Shipyard is another company, based in Chittagong, which has secured many export contracts. There is also another shipbuilding company and they have the third largest shipyard in Bangladesh and it is situated in Meghna.The company's name is Khan Brothers Shipbuilding Limited. [10] FMC Dockyard Limited is one of the renowned name in Bangladeshi shipbuilding industry. This is the only Dockyard of Bangladesh, which has its own forward and backward linkage facilities. [11]

The potentials of shipbuilding in Bangladesh has made the country to be compared with countries like China, Japan and South Korea. [12] Referring to the growing amount of export deals secured by the shipbuilding companies as well as the low cost labor available in the country, experts suggest that Bangladesh could emerge as a major competitor in the global market of small to medium ocean-going vessels. [3] [13] [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shipyard</span> Place where ships are built and repaired

A shipyard is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial construction. The terms are routinely used interchangeably, in part because the evolution of dockyards and shipyards has often caused them to change or merge roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narayanganj District</span> District of Bangladesh in Dhaka

Narayanganj District is a district in central Bangladesh which is a part of the Dhaka Division. It is home to the ancient city of Sonargaon and is one of the oldest industrial districts in the country. The district lies on the banks of the Shitalakshya River and the Meghna River. It is an industrial hub and plays an important part in the country's jute trade, plant processing and sector. It is nicknamed the "Dundee of Bangladesh" due to the presence of many jute mills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Mongla</span> Port in Bangladesh

The Port of Mongla is a link sea port, located at Mongla Upazila, Khulna Division, Bangladesh.It is a sea port of Khulna city which is located near to the north. It is the second largest and second busiest seaport of Bangladesh.Mongla port lies close to the shore of Bay of Bengal and Pashur river. Mongla is renowned among the major important ports of the Bengal delta. Due to the increasing congestion in Bangladesh's largest port in Chittagong, many international shipping companies have turned to Mongla as an alternative. Also the influence of continuous demanding from all over the country and neighbouring countries made it busier and economically eye catching day by day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandwip</span>

Sandwip is an island located along the southeastern coast of Bangladesh in the Chattogram District. Along with the island of Urir Char, it is a part of the Sandwip Upazila.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Administrative geography of Bangladesh</span> Bangladeshi administrative geography

Bangladesh is divided into 8 divisions (bibhag) and 64 districts, although these have only a limited role in public policy. For the purposes of local government, the country is divided into upazilas (sub-districts), municipalities (pourashova), city corporations and union councils . The diagram below outlines the five tiers of government in Bangladesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Chittagong</span> Major port in Bangladesh

The Chittagong Port is the main seaport of Bangladesh. Located in Bangladesh's port city of Chittagong and on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the port handles over 90 percent of Bangladesh's export-import trade, and has been used by India, Nepal and Bhutan for transshipment. According to Lloyd's, it ranked as the 58th busiest container port in the world in 2019. The port is one of the oldest in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Marine Shipyard</span> Bangladeshi shipbuilding company

Western Marine Shipyard Limited is a public listed shipbuilding company based in Chattogram, Bangladesh. The shipyard has constructed various types of vessels till date, including ocean going multi purpose cargo vessels, passenger vessels & boats, oil tankers, ro-ro ferry, pontoons, barges, fishing trawlers, dredgers, tug boats, container vessels, etc. Western Marine Shipyard is the country's largest shipbuilder, standing with over 42 acres of land, modernized into a shipyard consisting of all sorts of tech & heavy machinery. Sitting in the Eastern Bank of the Karnaphuli river in Chittagong, it is an employment source for 3500 people; including skilled and semi skilled labors. More than five hundred marine professionals are also working in the shipyard. Including marine experts, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, naval architects & experts in other fields. As a result of that, today, they are constructing vessels for buyers around the world [see Projects] and owns 89 percent of Bangladesh's shipbuilding market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of Bangladesh</span> Overview of and topical guide to Bangladesh

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Bangladesh:

The Khulna Shipyard Limited(Bengali: খুলনা শিপইয়ার্ড লিমিটেড) is a Bangladeshi state owned defense contractor based in Khulna, Bangladesh. It is located on 68.97 acres of land at Labanchara, Khulna, Bangladesh. It is about 45 km north from the Port of Mongla. The shipyard has the capacity to build steel / aluminium ships up to 90 m length and 700 tons lightweight. The shipyard has a slipway with a capacity to dock and undock vessels up to 700 tons lightweight and overall length of 84 meters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Chittagong</span> Economy of the city

The Economy of Chittagong is reflected in its gross state product of $116 billion in PPP terms ranking, second in size only behind Dhaka in Bangladesh. The nominal GDP of Chittagong metropolitan city is $43 billion. Chittagong metropolitan City is the second largest metropolitan city in Bangladesh. Chittagong is the export hub of Bangladesh, accounting for more than $25 billion in exports. Chittagong is the commercial hub of country.Chittagong is also home to the busiest port in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bangladesh–Turkey relations</span> Bilateral relations

Bangladesh–Turkey relations refers to the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Turkey. Both countries are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Turkey has an embassy in Dhaka and Bangladesh has an embassy in Ankara and a consulate in Istanbul.

<i>Sobuj Bangla</i>-class patrol craft Ship of Bangladesh

The Sobuj Bangla class is a class of inshore patrol vessel (IPV) family of the Bangladesh Coast Guard built in three batches. This class is a subclass of the Padma-class patrol vessel with similar design but less displacement and different armaments.

Dockyard and Engineering Works (DEW) Limited is a ship construction and repair yard at the Narayanganj, Bangladesh owned by the Government of Bangladesh under Ministry of Defence and managed by the Bangladesh Navy. The yard built many small to medium-sized patrol boats for the Bangladesh Coast Guard and landing craft for the Bangladesh Navy.

Chittagong Dry Dock Limited (CDDL), formerly an enterprise of Bangladesh Steel and Engineering Corporation, is a state-owned military ship repair facility based in Chittagong Port, Bangladesh. CDDL is one of the largest ship repair facilities in East and South Asian region, and one of the three shipyards owned and operated by the Bangladesh Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FMC Dockyard Limited</span> Bangladeshi ship-related company

FMC Dockyard Limited is a shipbuilding & ship-repairing company based in Chittagong, Bangladesh owned by the FMC Group. The shipyard constructs various types of vessels, including ocean going multi purpose cargo vessels, passenger vessels & boats, oil tankers, pontoons, barges, fishing trawlers, dredgers, tug boats, container vessels, etc. FMC Dockyard is Situated in the Eastern Bank of the Karnaphuli river in Chittagong, it is an employment source for around 1500+ people; including skilled and semi skilled labors. FMC Dockyard is standing with over 45 acres of land, modernized into a shipyard consisting of all sorts of tech & heavy machinery. More than five hundred marine professionals are also working in the shipyard. Including marine experts, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, naval architects & experts in other fields. Business strategy of FMC Dockyard is "Diversity for growth and innovation".

The defence industry of Bangladesh is a strategically important sector and a large employer in Bangladesh.The Government of Bangladesh is actively seeking to upgrade its military and security capabilities and has allocated increasing amounts to its defense and security-related budget.

References

  1. ↑ "Shipbuilders seek working capital for 10 years". www.bssnews.net. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  2. ↑ "The Independent - Online Edition". The Independent Online and Print Version. Archived from the original on 2013-12-17.
  3. 1 2 "Shipbuilding Industry Taking Off in Bangladesh". 2010-03-25. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  4. ↑ "Prospects of shipbuilding industry in Bangladesh". Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
  5. ↑ "Shipbuilding industry can earn more for Bangladesh". Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
  6. 1 2 3 Shipbuilding Industry in Banglapedia
  7. 1 2 "Prospects of shipbuilding industry in Bangladesh". Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  8. 1 2 Ray, Indrajit (2011). Bengal Industries and the British Industrial Revolution (1757-1857). Routledge. p. 174. ISBN   978-1-136-82552-1.
  9. ↑ "Technological Dynamism in a Stagnant Sector: Safety at Sea during the Early Industrial Revolution" (PDF).
  10. ↑ "Shipbuilding prospects shine bright". The Daily Star.
  11. ↑ "$30.12m export earnings from shipbuilding in 10 months". Dhaka Tribune. 2018-05-27. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  12. ↑ "Bangladesh shipbuilding goes for export growth". BBC News.
  13. ↑ "Asia Times Online :: Bangladesh turns from hulk-breaking to shipbuilding". atimes.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ↑ "Experts for promoting shipbuilding business". The Bangladesh Today.
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