Chattogram: Three locally built landing crafts, a specialised type of vessel, have been exported to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Western Marine Shipyard (WMS), one of the country’s leading shipbuilding and exporting enterprises, today officially handed over the three landing crafts, valued at $2.2 million, to Marwan Shipping and Trading Company LLC, a UAE-based company.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the UAE Ambassador to Bangladesh, Abdulla Ali Abdulla Alhmoudi, was present as the chief guest at the handing-over ceremony held on the deck of a ship anchored in the WMS yard area on the east bank of the Karnaphuli River in Patiya upazila. Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Abdur Rahim Khan, Managing Director of Marwan Shipping and Trading Company, Ahmed Mohammad Hossain Al Marjuki, and Chattogram Range DIG of Police, Ahsan Habib Palash, also spoke at the function as special guests.
The event was presided over by the Managing Director of WMS, Captain Sohel Hasan, and moderated by DGM (Commercial) Shahidul Basher. During his speech, the UAE ambassador emphasized the unveiling of a new horizon in broader business cooperation between the “brotherly countries” of UAE and Bangladesh, facilitated by the construction and export of the three ship facilities by the competent Bangladeshi firm, WMS. He expressed hope that the existing cooperation in the shipping sector between private enterprises in the UAE and Bangladesh will significantly increase in the future.
Special guest Abdur Rahim Khan highlighted the significant contributions that private entrepreneurs in the shipping and marine sectors could make in expanding Bangladesh’s export basket and enriching the country’s economy.