The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) is set to launch container service soon considering the growing demand for transportation of cargoes through waterways inside and outside the country, officials concerned said.
It'll get four ships soon for its first ever container services aimed at boosting revenue, they said, adding that the state-owned Corporation has already signed contracts with the Khulna Shipyard Limited and the Chittagong Dockyard Ltd for supplying the ships to be used for the container services.
The BIWTC in its fleet has 41 commercials ships, eight auxiliary ships and 49 different types of goods carrying ships.
Ships of the Corporation, however, carry only 20 per cent of total cargo shipments and five per cent of passengers' services in the riverine routes of the country.
Earlier, it leased five of its tankers, one coaster and seven BB barges to the private sector for operating their container services that play an important role for gearing up the country's trade and commerce. It is also becoming important for internal and external trade.
There are 2,100 motorised cargo ships with overall capacity of 410,000 tonnes in the country.
Out of the total, the BIWTC has 115 ships with a total capacity of 75,500 tonnes. 73 of the ships, however, are now in operation.
Sources concerned said the age-old BIWTC ships need regular repair work which forces the authority to bear an extra financial burden.
Meanwhile, the Coastal Shipping Agreement between Bangladesh and India has opened up a new opportunity to enhance cargo services through the riverine routes both internally and externally.
The cargo routes are - Chittagong-Dhaka, Chittagong-Narayanganj, Chittagong-Mongla, Narayanganj-Mongla, Narayanganj-Ashuganj, Narayanganj-Kolkata and Khulna-Kolkata.
"We hope to get the ships within months. As expected, the container services will start by this year," a high official of the Ministry of Shipping told the FE.
The BIWTC has been making profits over the last few years. It had made profits of Tk 573 million and Tk 700 million during the fiscal years (FYs) 2013-14 and 2014-15 respectively.
It also earned over Tk 25 million during the FY 2014-15 and over nine million during the FY 2015-16 for charted freight service.
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