Prospect of ship building in Bangladesh

Across the world, demand for new ships is on a rapid rise. This surge comes at a time when many traditional shipbuilding nations, particularly Japan, South Korea, and several European countries, face major labour shortages. Shipbuilding is a labour-intensive industry, and without an abundant and experienced workforce, many countries are struggling o keep up with order volumes. Shipbuilding is primarily a capital- intensive industry with labour playing an important role due to dependence on skilled and semi-skilled manpower. China, the Republic of Korea and Japan are currently the major global players because of cost-cum- price competitiveness. Cost-effective human resources, simplified import facilities for raw materials and duty-free market access to potential markets have encouraged Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to come forward in the ship-building business. As the global demand is going up after a period of stagnation, this is the time for Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to prepare for meeting a surge in global and local demand for small-and medium-sized ships.
Following the footsteps of ship building companies, including Western Shipyard, came forward by building on its experience of ship repair and maintenance of classed vessels. It entered the shipbuilding industry in 2008 and the first orders from Europe arrived very soon. Many vessels were delivered by Ananda and Western Shipyards so far with an export value of over US$100 million. Although Bangladeshi firms demonstrated the capacity to build different categories of vessels, only multipurpose vessels (MPV) and ferries were exported during the period (World Bank, 2013).
On November 20 last, the leading export-oriented shipbuilder of Bangladesh, Western Marine Shipyard Ltd (WMSL), exported 03 more ships in 2025 to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is a historical moment for the shipbuilding sector of Bangladesh as Western Marine is exporting three ships in one single day to the UAE, which is a non-traditional export market for Bangladesh. As a country we're too much dependent on single export product where Bangladesh can fall into Dutch disease and our exports might fall drastically. For this reason, the country should promote new exporting sectors like shipbuilding to diversify her export products and export destination. Shipbuilding is labour -intensive, high-tech and heavy industry. Its end-product brings multimillion dollars even with a single unit export. For image building and diversification, we need to export high -value products which will lead Bangladesh into being a global economic player.
Western Marine signed contract for building a total of eight ships-- 2 tugboats, 4 landing crafts and 2 tankers--with their UAE-based buyer Marwan Shipping Ltd in 2023. Out of these eight vessels, earlier they delivered one 69-meter landing craft "Rayan" in January 2025 and two high-power tugboats "Khalid" and "Ghaya" were exported to the UAE in July 2025. The remaining two tankers are expected to be delivered in 2026.
We have a plentiful supply of skilled and semi-skilled manpower. Our labour force is young, energetic, and capable - and this is a strength no other major shipbuilding nation currently enjoys on this scale. Combined with competitive production costs, a rapidly growing industrial base, and the proven ability to deliver vessels to international clients, Bangladesh stands today as a strong and credible contender on the global shipbuilding market. Export diversification is a point of national importance. Bangladesh has long relied on a narrow export basket. It is important that we expand our capabilities and reduce our dependence on a single industry for foreign income. Shipbuilding is one of the most promising industries for this diversification. Every vessel we export carries more than just steel and machinery, it carries Bangladeshi workmanship, Bangladeshi talent, and Bangladeshi ambition to the world. As exports grow, so too does our reputation- and with it, new sectors of opportunity open for our country. The international demand is there. The market gaps are clear. And Bangladesh, with its workforce and competitiveness, is well-positioned to capture a larger share of that opportunity.
Factors that affect the ease of doing business-such as delays in approval and bureaucratic constraints- can slow down productivity. These issues are real, but they are not permanent. With continued reforms, stronger coordination, and a united push to improve our business environment, we can accelerate our progress and make shipbuilding an even more competitive export sector for the country. Bangladesh government has provided "Shipbuilding Industry Development Policy 2021", and with proper implementation of the policy, our shipbuilding industry can rise to the next level.
It may be mentioned that Western Marine exported first ship to this buyer in 2017. The shipbuilder has so far exported 36 ships to 11 countries with an aggregate value of more than US$138 million.
Western Marine Shipyard, one of the biggest shipyards in Bangladesh, started its shipbuilding activities in 1994 under the umbrella of Western Marine Group. Finally the company was founded with its modern slipway in 2000. Since its foundation, the company is always known as a shipbuilder with quality- based motivation.
Western Marine Shipyard specializes in Construction, Modification, Docking and Repair of vessels such as cargo, passenger, tug, pontoon and tanker. Quality and continuous improvement is assumed as success factor for Western Marine Shipyard Ltd. The company keeps our quality management system certified, according to ISO 9001-2000. Also, Western Marine Shipyard keeps the welding system certified according to WPQR. Western Marine Shipyard assumes that Health and Safety is an essential factor of the company performance and proceeding to set Health and Safety standard according to OHSAS 18000.
Western Marine is a full service shipbuilding company for vessels and renders services in New Buildings, Modifications, Docking and Repairs. Currently there are 50 professional staff members with 600 skilled and semi-skilled technicians bringing the quality into practice. A modern ship-design section with internationally reputed software and experienced Naval Architects is constantly fulfilling the requirement of ship-design parameters. The company is ready to take the lead to contribute to the demanding shipbuilding industry of the world and has the setup to achieve this goal comfortably.
Western Marine has expanded its shipyard to over 10 acres of land near Shikalbaha Power Plant in Kolagaon Union under Patiya Upazila to take the domestic ship-building industry to new heights.

Captain Sohail Hasan is Managing Director, Western Marine Shipyard Limited