Western Marine holds pre-launch ceremony for ship built for NZ

CHITTAGONG, Apr 16: MV Mataliki, an international SOLAS passenger ship that the Western Marine Shipyard is building for the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, had a pre-launching ceremony at the shipyard in Chittagong on Thursday.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam was chief guest at the ceremony while Ionatana Galway O'Brien, Transport Minister of New Zealand Territory, Tokelau, was special guest.
MV Mataliki will be mainly used to transport the people of Tokelau, which is a New Zealand-controlled state in the Pacific.
Construction of the ship was initiated on February 19 last year. This project has been identified as one of the biggest achievements of the ship building industry of Bangladesh for having built a ship for the first time which will sail in the Pacific.
The ship was built under the class Lloyd's Register, UK and by following the IMO SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) rule which means the ship has the highest safety measures considering all possible risks at sea.
The ship is able to carry 60 passengers in addition to 50 tonnes of cargo and supplies. The ship is 43 metres long with environment-friendly machinery. It will ply the Pacific Ocean as a Green Ship.
Western Marine Shipyard chairman Saiful Islam stated that MV Mataliki had created an opportunity for the entire ship building industry of Bangladesh as the ship would promote the quality and skill of Bangladesh ship building industry in the Pacific region.
In the past the Western Marine built ships for Asia, East Africa and Europe.
WMS Managing Director Sakhawat Hossain discussed technical details of the vessel at the ceremony.