Speakers underscore series of steps for sustainable shipbuilding industry in BD

Bangladesh needs waterways infrastructure and container carrying vessels of international standard in accordance with maritime classification societies for a sustainable shipbuilding industry, people in the circle said Tuesday.
They also focused on taking a series of measures to educate both ship builders and owners properly about pattern of the global shipbuilding industry and produce skilled manpower to run the business.
The observations came at a workshop on "Sustainable Shipping and Shipbuilding - Role of Classification Society" by the Germanischer Lloyd (GL) at a city hotel on the day.
The Hamburg-based DNV GL was one of the world's leading classification societies, with a 24 per cent market share of the world's classic ships and mobile offshore units.
DNV GL country manager AKM Masud Karim in a PowerPoint presentation said the concept of inland container terminals (ICTs) is very essential on Bangladesh's perspective to carry a growing number of containers as there are not enough road-based transportation facilities in the country.
He said carrying costs will reduce by 30 per cent through container vessels as a ship can carry containers of 140 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit), which is 10 times higher than rail and 140 times more than road.
Talking about the role of classification societies, Marijan Samardzic, Area Manager of DNV GL in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, said Bangladesh has a great place for inland transportation thanks to the rivers that flow all over the country.
"Around 90 per cent of the cargoes can be transported through waterways and I don't believe that shipping cannot be profitable here. The country needs proper planning for best use of the resources it has," he said.
"Time has come to realise that the ships must be built as per class specification as it will carry cargoes worth several times higher than the value of the vessel," he added.
Speaking on the importance of the class vessels in international trades, Mr. Mahboob Ahmed, a consultant and Managing Director of Shipwrights Resources Limited (SRL), said the vessels will have to be sea-river container ones to be built under IACS/ IMO regulations to carry international cargoes covered under international maritime insurance.
He was critical of the process of awarding 32 licences for bringing container carrying ships for the ICT and said the concerned authorities should have done more homework before giving licences as many of the licence holders do not have the capacity to bring the ships.
He also focused on regular training on crews for raising their efficiency in running the vessels.
Capt. Mohd. Ruhul Amin, Head of Operation of Bashundhara Steel and Engineering Ltd, stressed on the importance of river dredging as depth in the river is one of the key barriers for smooth navigation of ships.
Director General of the Department of Shipping Commodore M Zakiur Rahman Bhuiyan termed the workshop a time-befitting one and said it will help narrow the gap between the ship owners and builders about the international standard.
He also focused on outsourcing materials and contents for building ships in Bangladesh to reduce costs on the ground of sustainability.
"We're trying to set local class standard with international flavour for coastal shipping with neighbouring countries," he informed.
The speakers also pin pointed reduction of freight charges for the making business economically viable.