The government is learnt to have moved forward with a plan to establish ship-recycling and shipbuilding hub in the coastal district of Patuakhali.
Competent sources said the Ministry of Industries has formed a 13-member committee headed by an additional secretary to conduct feasibility study and prepare implementation plan of the proposed industrial complex.
The committee has been asked to submit report within three months of its formation.
It has also been asked to incorporate into the report the projection about financing of the project, and its sustainability after the project period is over.
Representatives from the ministry of industries, power division, shipping, communications, environment and forest, land, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, Bangladesh Steel and Engineering Corporation, Khulna Shipyard Ltd, and Chittagong Drydock Ltd have been included in the committee.
Bangladesh is now the third-largest ship-breaker in the world. The Chittagong Ship Breaking Yard, which employs over 200,000 people, accounts for half the steel need in the country.
Bangladesh dismantled 210 ships in 2013 and became third-largest ship-breaking nation, growing from second-largest position in 2012 when it scrapped 270 ships.
The government is yet to ensure safe and environment-friendly ship-breaking industry despite repeated calls from environmentalists and civil-society organisations.
Some 20 people died in the ship-breaking yards in 2013, according to data collected by NGO Shipbreaking Platform, a global coalition of human rights, labour rights and environmental organisations.
Allegations have it that Bangladesh's ship-breaking industry imports and scraps toxic ships despite legal bar. And this breach results in environmental damage and frequent death of workers.
Environmentalists say every year nearly 80 to 100 ships containing hazardous materials are being scrapped at over 100 yards in Bangladesh.
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