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Shipbuilding is a growing industry in Bangladesh with great potentials. Bangladesh has a long history of shipbuilding dating back to the early modern era. However, shipbuilding has become a major promising industry in recent years when the locally made ships began to be exported. Bangladesh has now over 200 shipbuilding companies, mostly concentrated in Dhaka, Chittagong, Narayanganj, Barisal and Khulna.
History
Because of the riverine geography of Bangladesh, ships have been playing a major role in the trade affairs of the people of this country since the ancient times. According to the accounts of the 14th century Moroccan traveller Ibn Batuta, there used to be large fleets of warships docked in various ports of the country. A medieval European traveller Caesar Frederick documented that the port city of Chittagong was a manufacturing hub of large ships during the mid 15th century. The volume of shipbuilding swelled extensively during the Mughal period. During the 17th century, the shipyards of Chittagong used to build warships for the Sultan of Turkey.
The Royal Navy had many warships built in Chittagong, some of which were also used in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Khulna Shipyard, the first modern shipyard of Bangladesh, was established in 1957, constructed by a German firm. Initially a private concern, the shipyard was later nationalized and came under the control of Bangladesh Navy in 1999.
In 1979, the sector received its first foreign investment after the independence of Bangladesh when Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Industry, a Japanese enterprise, formed a joint venture with High Speed Shipyard of Bangladesh to establish a shipyard at Fatullah, Narayanganj. By the 2000s, several more private shipyards were established and in 2008, Bangladesh became a ship exporting country.
Industry
Ananda Shipyard and Shipways Limited (ASSL), founded in 1983 on the bank of Meghna river, became the first Bangladeshi shipbuilding company to export an ocean-going ship when it transferred the locally built "Stella Maris" to a Danish firm. ASSL has since then secured several more contracts, mostly from the European countries. Western Marine Shipyard is another company, based in Chittagong, which has secured many export contracts. There is also another shipbuilding company and they have the third largest shipyard in Bangladesh and it is situated in Meghna. The company's name is Khan Brothers Shipbuilding Limited.
The potentials of shipbuilding in Bangladesh has made the country to be compared with export deals secured by the shipbuilding companies as well as the low cost labor available in the country, experts suggest that Bangladesh could emerge as a major competitor in the global market of small to medium ocean-going vessels.
Problems
In the past, shipbuilding industry of Bangladesh failed to keep pace with consistency due to lack of
proper government and private initiatives as well as anti-industry mindset of the nation. This has ultimately caused non-penetration in international business as a shipbuilding nation. In future, some issues like safety, efficiency and environmental concerns will turn this sector into a more innovative one, which may enable the new generation to face the challenges to resolve the problems arising out of it. Countries with large population like Bangladesh may feel encouraged to come forward in labour intensive shipbuilding sector due to their abundant manpower. Currently the world is passing through economic recession. Shipping and shipbuilding of the world are affected from this recession resulting cancellation of new building orders at least for thetime being. The present shipbuilding sector inBangladesh is not that big industry and only a fewshipyards are involved in exporting ships, butrevenue generated from this sector is promising. Inspite of enormous possibilities of expandingshipbuilding industry in Bangladesh there are alsosome problems. These existing problems of thissector may be categorized13 in the following broadheadings:
a. Financial problem
b. Human Resource Developmentproblem
c. Infrastructure problem
d. Marketing problem
e. Management problem
f. Technical problem
g. Quality control problem
h. Delay delivery problem
i. Pricing problem
j. Safety, health, and environmentalaspect
k. Economic recession and its effect onBangladeshi shipbuilding
l. Some special problems