The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs has asked the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) to clarify several issues on its signing of a commercial contract with a Chinese company for procuring six vessels, sources said.
The explanations have been sought as the Ministry of Shipping (MoS) had requested vetting from the law ministry regarding the signing of the deal as per instruction by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), they added.
To procure three bulk carriers and three oil tankers, the BSC on April 30 last signed the US$171 million commercial contract with CMC (China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation). But the corporation did not seek vetting from the law ministry before signing the deal.
Sources said the law ministry has raised questions about the authority of the managing director of the BSC in signing the contract with the CMC. It has sought to know whether the MD is authorised to strike the deal.
Besides, it has also asked to clarify why the BSC did not take permission from the law ministry before signing the commercial contract.
The MoL has also asked the BSC to seek the opinion of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on the whole issue.
It has suggested the BSC to engage someone to act as the focal point for the proposed vessel procurement deal so that necessary information can be obtained from him or her.
Earlier, the cabinet committee at a meeting on July 14 did not approve the issue and asked the MoS to submit before the committee again with opinion and vetting from the ERD, NBR and MoL.
The Chinese EXIM Bank, which agreed to provide soft loan for procurement of the vessels, recently threatened to divert the loan if the BSC failed to secure the consent of the Bangladesh government by this month (October) to sign a financial deal in this regard. Â
When contacted, BSC managing director Moqsumul Quader told the FE Wednesday that he had already sent a letter to the MoS giving replies to all the queries.
However, he refused to elaborate the content of the letter.
Presently, the corporation has 13 ships in its fleet. Of them one is container ship, 10 are product carriers and two lighterage tankers. A BSC official said the average age of the ships is 28 years which needs to be replaced very soon.
Established in 1972, the BSC is entrusted with the responsibility of carrying bulk cargo, food grains and crude oil, chartering, tramping and feeder services, unloading and providing agency service and ship repairing.
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