Govt plans ship purchase to survey Bay resources

The Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB) is planning to purchase a million-dollar survey ship for exploring resources in the Bay of Bengal within its maritime boundary.

Sources said the GSB will buy the ship to develop database of marine resources under the sea as the country still lacks knowledge about it.

They said resolution of maritime disputes with the neighbouring countries has necessitated exploration of potential of the country's blue economy.

"We don't know what we have in the offshore areas. We have to assess the Bay's resources," said director general of the GSB Reshad M Ekram Ali.

He said the government now has no data on the sea resources. So a survey ship would help get primary data on resources in the offshore areas. Different ministries concerned have already taken various projects to explore the Bay.

The GSB proposal to buy the ship is now with the ministry concerned for examination.

The ship to be purchased would conduct multidisciplinary geological, hydrographic and geophysical surveys to understand seabed geology, seabed morphology, seabed sediment types etc.

The DG said the survey will also help the government take many important decisions.

He said after the purchase of the ship, the country's dependency on foreign experts would also be reduced for having own data.

smunima@yahoo.com