FMC 2nd fishing vessel concludes sea trial

CHITTAGONG, Apr 5: The FMC Dockyard has successfully completed sea-trial of its second fishing trawler FV Swarnali Opi. No fault was detected during its four day sea-trial, manufacturers said.
 FV CML Labiba was the first fishing vessel of the FMC Dockyard that also proved flawless during the sea trial last month. The dockyard will finish construction and sea trial of three more fishing trawlers within next month, the company said.
Skipper Quamrul Islam and Engineer Nazrul Islam, who conducted the sea trial of Swarnali Opi said the country will no longer required to procure fishing trawlers from abroad, because local shipyards have been building the ships with modern technology. They operated the vessel in the Bay of Bengal from April 1 to 4.
Stability, maneuvering and engine performance are excellent while fishing equipment are modern and updated. "We're proud that Bangladesh is now building excellent fishing trawlers. FMC has contributed a lot to the national economy," he said.
Managing Director of FMC Dockyard Md Yasin Chowdhury said the trawler's fish holding capacity is 250 tonnes. Maintenance cost of this trawler is lower than that of an imported fishing trawler, he said.
FMC Dockyard of Chittagong has so far constructed container vessels, tankers, dredger, cruise vessel, ferries, tug boats, pontoons etc in its short span of shipbuilding industry.