Western Marine Shipyard has signed a new agreement for building one catamaran type passenger ship for Tanzania. The deal was signed by the Managing Director of Western Marine Shipyard Mr. Sakhawat Hossain and the Director of JGH Marine, Mr. Niels Holstein .
JGH Marine is a Danish Company, which has received the notification award for supplying the passenger ship to Tanzania. The ship will have a capacity of carrying 300 passengers. It will be used by Tanzanian Ministry of Transportation to transport passengers in the inland and coastal route of Tanzania.
Western Marine has a rich track record for building passenger ships. They have built numerous passenger ships, which ply in the inland and coastal route of Bangladesh. In 2011, the shipyard has even exported two passenger ships to Pakistan and recently an advanced passenger ferry was exported to Denmark, a milestone for Bangladeshi shipbuilding industry.
The ship will be 38m in length and it will be able to travel at a speed of 20knots. Catamaran ships are very safe for sea voyages and even more stable than other types of ships as they are specially designed with twin hull. Western Marine has built a similar type of catamaran which now operates for Chittagong Boat Club.
The newbuilding will be constructed at a cost of BDT 25 crore and the shipyard expects to deliver her to the owner by mid of 2014.
Western Marine Managing Director Mr. Sakhawat Hossain said that this project will be a break for them in the African market. He said that, like Tanzania, many other countries in Africa are developing their infrastructure system and thus these countries are in need of various types of ships. The Chairman of the shipyard Mr. Saiful Islam said that this is great news for the nation as this export order will add great value to their economy though foreign currency earning.
[mappress] WMS, May 27, 2013