Western Marine is building two 750-passenger vessels, the first passenger ships of this capacity by a local Bangladeshi shipbuilder.
The keel-laying for the ships which will be operated by BIWTC on the inland route of Dhaka to Barisal was celebrated in the shipyard located in Patiya.
The Shipping Minister, Mr. Shajahan Khan (MP) was the Chief Guest in the ceremony. As Special Guests Mr. Syed Monjurul Islam, Secretary In-Charge for Shipping Ministry; and Mr. Mojibor Rahman, Chairman of BIWTC were present in the occasion.
These ships will be serving the passengers in one of busiest river route in Bangladesh, Dhaka to Barisal. New building of these ships is an initiative by the government to enhance the inland waterway transportation system of Bangladesh. It is believed addition of these two ships will reduce this crisis of traffic congestion & people will be more interested in travelling by river routes.
Western Marine Managing Director, Sakhawat Hossain said this project is a challenge for Western Marine as the ships are to be delivered by September 2013.
The company's chairman highlighted saying: “Earlier ships for our local use were imported from abroad spending our hard earned foreign currency. But now these ships are being built locally and Western Marine being a certified internationally standard shipyard, comply with all the latest IMO rules of safety.”