B'desh shipping business gets sound footing over last few yrs

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FHM Humayan Kabir
Bangladeshi shipping business has been receiving boosts over the last few years as local industrialists are entering the business purchasing a good number of ocean-going vessels to operate international trade, officials said Thursday.
The state-owned Mercantile Marine Department (MMD) officials said some 21 ocean-going ships had been bought by the local older and new shipping companies in 2011, which is nearly double that in 2010.
In 2010, the local ship owners have registered 12 ships, mostly bulk carriers, to add to the Bangladesh's vessel fleet, the department said.
"The local shipping business is being boosted over the last few years due mainly to industrial growth in the country," MMD Principal Officer Captain Habibur Rahman told the FE.
The MMD is the government authority, which offers registration to the ships owned by the Bangladeshi owners for plying with national flag on the international routes.
Mr Habibur Rahman said Bangladesh was a prospective country in shipping business as the country's industrial growth as well as economy was surging ahead year-on-year basis.
The Bangladeshi-owned ocean-going bulk-carries and tankers have been rising since 2009 as many industrialists are now entering the international cargo carrier business, the MMD chief said.
Local shipping companies and businessmen have so far purchased 68 ocean-going vessels investing nearly US$1.2 billion. More than half, 43 ships, of those have been purchased by the local shipping companies and businessmen in the last three years since 2009.
In 2009, Bangladeshi owners have got registration of 10 ocean-going ships with the MMD, the marine department statistics showed.
The local conglomerates Basundhara Group, Akij Group, Meghna Group, Abul Khair Group, Deshbandhu Group have entered the shipping business purchasing bulk-carrier ships and tankers up to 110,000 dead-weight tonnes (DWT) capacity.
Shippers said local shipping line --- the MJL Bangladesh Ltd.-- has bought a 106,547 DWT ocean-going vessel, so far the largest in size, named Omera Queen, in 2011.
The country's leading sugar refinery company the Deshbandhu Group imported a 42,552 DWT ship in last year mainly to carry their cargoes along with other commercial operations.
The country's largest conglomerate Akij Group has also bought a 46,640dwt ocean-going vessel in 2010, named Akij Wave, for its newly set up shipping business with two vessels.
Basundhara Group has bought five ocean-going ships in the last three years for its new shipping business, official data showed.
MMD Principal Officer Habibur Rahman said some 2000 ships arrive in the Chittagong port annually, where Bangladeshi shipping companies' share in the business is nearly 10 per cent.
Captain Tanveer, General Manager of the GBX Logistics, local agent of the Singapore-based OEL shipping, told the FE that it was good news for Bangladesh that some new companies were entering the shipping business.
"Locally owned ships will save foreign currency as they will carry their own cargoes. Before that they used to pay huge foreign currencies to the overseas shipping companies for chartering their cargoes," he said.
If the local companies can continue their business in a sophisticated way surviving the recent impact of the Euro zone crisis and global financial meltdown, Bangladeshi shipping lines will be one of the best businesses in this region, he added.
Senior Operating manager of the CMA CGM Bangladesh Ltd. Mohammad Zahangir said since the big conglomerates in Bangladesh need to import raw materials for their industries, they prefer their own carries.
The vessels of the local conglomerates reduce the loss in charter and transit and also cut the lead time to import their raw materials, which will make them competitive in international business, he told the FE.
Mr Zahangir said many domestic industrialists wanted to avoid investment in the labour-intensive sector due to the recent repeated unrests in the factories. "They prefer investment in secure sectors like shipping lines where there is lower labour involvement."
Habibur Rahman, principal officer of MMD, said: "The number of vessels increased significantly following the government policy support too."
The government waived import and value added taxes on purchase of ships in its budget placed for 2009-10.