Bangladeshi Western Marine launches ice-class vessels

29 Jul, 2010 by Priyo Australia

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Marking a milestone in the shipbuilding industry, Western Marine Shipyard Ltd has rolled out two ice-class vessels.

“These are specially designed vessels,” said Md Saiful Islam, chairman of Western Marine. Ice-class ships have strengthened hulls to enable them to navigate through sea ice.

EMSSEA — a 100-metre, 5,200DWT (deadweight tonnage) multi-purpose dry-cargo ship, was the first to leave the docks on Monday. The second — EMSRIVER — a sister vessel of EMSSEA, floated yesterday from the shipyard in Chittagong. The EMSSEA is the largest vessel built by a local shipbuilder until now.

The two are part of the 12 vessels worth $130 million in total, ordered by Grona Shipping, a German company. The vessels will be delivered by 2012 in phases.

Built in compliance with Germani-scher Lloyds standard and designed to endure extreme weather conditions, the ice-class vessels will be deployed in the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea, said the shipbuilder.

“Bangladesh had established its name as a successful shipbuilding nation by delivering such massive vessels,” said Sakhawat Hossain, managing director of Western Marine, during the launch.

Marku Vedder, fleet manager of Grona Shipping, also present on the occasion, expressed his satisfaction over the quality workmanship and timely delivery of the ships.

The shipbuilder is now receiving many orders from Germany, Denmark, Pakistan and Middle Eastern countries as Bangladesh is increasingly being recognised as an attractive destination for medium and small vessel building.