Fourth bid of BSC to buy oil tanker also hits snags

The Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) is facing hurdle even during its latest bid, the fourth one, to buy an oil tanker.
The corporation initiated the move to buy the tanker almost two years back aiming to enrich its fleet, sources said.
The Ministry of Shipping (MoS) last week questioned the evaluation criteria of tender documents following preliminary selection of an oil tanker for procurement by the BSC.
The BSC officials are taking preparation to send an expert team to physically visit the vessel before finalising the procurement process.
"I don't know why the ministry raised such a question at the last moment when we have almost finalised everything and sought its permission to send an expert team for physical inspection of the ship," managing director of the BSC Moqsumul Quader told the FE.
He said the bidder was selected after it had fulfilled all the requirements mentioned in the tender documents.
Sources said Mr Quader replied to the MoS letter last week in which he had claimed that the marking criteria were set by the tender evaluation committee (TEC) before opening the bid documents.
The criteria were also evaluated accordingly, they said.
The MoS letter alleged that the TEC had evaluated the papers on the basis of marking criteria set later instead of mentioning the same in the original bid documents.
In reply to the MoS, the BSC chief said vessel procurement is a complicated process. The BSC board approved the tender document, including the specifications of the vessel, in a board meeting in March 2013. Later, an inter-ministerial meeting of the development project proposal (DPP) evaluation committee at the MoS in April 2013 also discussed the issue of tender evaluation process.
After that, the BSC in the same month in a letter to the MoS also explained the evaluation/marking criteria of tender documents. Later, the issue was incorporated in the DPP which the MoS approved in May 2013.
Mr Quader expressed his dissatisfaction over the 'obstacles' being created is almost at the final stage of the procurement.
The BSC selected the oil tanker, namely STI Highlander, for procurement which will cost nearly US$26 million. The Marshall Island flag-carrier vessel was built in 2007 whose deadweight capacity is 37,145 tonnes.
The BSC chief claimed that the oil tanker was a high quality vessel and the price quoted by the bidder is relatively cheaper.
He said four suppliers submitted bid documents of which three were found responsive. Before making the recommendation, the three vessels were inspected by the classification society and name of two vessels were recommended to the ministry by the TEC for consideration.
Sources said in the first bid of the BSC for buying an oil-tanker below ten years of age, three suppliers had submitted tender documents. The TEC found that of the three, two did not submit bid bond with the documents and the third one furnished full documents.
Later, the BSC floated tender again where only one tender document was submitted. The bidder sought $29 million as price of the oil tanker which the TEC considered costly.
In the third round of bidding, a supplier sought $19 million to supply an oil tanker which made the BSC interested to buy it. However, the supplier failed to arrange physical inspection of the vessel prompting the BSC to confiscate the Tk 4.0 million bid bond of the supplier.
Established in 1972, the BSC is entrusted with the responsibility of carrying bulk cargo, food grain and crude oil, chartering, tramping and feeder services, unloading and providing agency service and ship repairing.
Presently, the Corporation has 13 ships in its fleet. Of them, one is container ship, 10 are product carriers and two are lighterage tankers.
A BSC official said the average age of the ships is 28 years which need to be replaced very soon.