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LCT NEWCON Western Marine

Western Marine Shipyard Limited (WMS) won a deal to build two combat tank carriers (Landing Ship Tank) for Bangladesh Army, said a press release issued by WMS. Western Marine Group and Bangladesh Army signed the agreement at the office premises of DGDP (Directorate General Defense Purchase) on 21 June 2017. The press statement said that under the deal the combat tank carriers (LCT) to be built at a cost of about Tk 77 crore will be handed over to Bangladesh Army within next 22 months. In the signing ceremony, WMS Managing Director Md Sakhawat Hossain and Deputy Director Purchase (Army Wing-1) of Ministry of Defense Colonel Chowdhury Fazleh Ali signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organization. Among others, senior official of both WMS services and the DGDP were present on deal signing ceremony.

According to the press statement, each vessel having a length of 68 meters will carry eight combat tanks including 40 officers and 200 troops. Each of the LCT will have a helipad facility as well. These Ships will be made under the supervision of International Ship Builders Classification Society BUREAU VERITAS-France. As a result, these ships will adopt International Standard on quality management system under the Flagship of Bangladesh which will be fully safe and environment-friendly, and which could move to the coastal area safely. WMS earlier has built this type of LCT for M/s Al Rashid Shipping, UAE, Dubai and is expected to hand over to the parties by this month. WMS has reached a milestone on building modern ships in the country by completing this project.

The project cost for the construction of the two landing craft tanks is about Tk 6 crore and each craft is 74 meters long. Note that each craft will be able to hold 40 officers and 200 soldiers including 8 combat tanks. The craft tanks at Western Marine Shipyard will be completed and handed over to the Bangladesh Army within the next 22 months. The ships will be built under the supervision of the International Shipbuilding Control Agency. As a result, these ships will be built under the Bangladeshi flag following all the rules of international standard, completely safe and most environmentally friendly. These ships will be able to operate safely in the coastal areas of Bangladesh. Western Marine has already built such a tank carrier for a Dubai-based company.

Bangladesh pushed for an indigenous naval shipbuilding industry. Previously Khulna Shipyard was the sole builder of navy warships, and then NDDL came forward. Now, the good news is that this trend of manufacturing warships comes to the privately owned shipyards of Bangladesh. It will help the country’s economy and reduce reliance on foreign manufacturers.

In 2017 Bangladesh's leading shipbuilder Western Marine Shipyard handed over a landing craft tank to Al Rashid Shipping Ltd of the United Arab Emirates. The deal was signed in 2015 and the craft took around Tk 10 crore to build in compliance with Bureau Veritas. It will be used on routes along the Mediterranean Sea for trading and loading goods off shore. Named “Ajman Trans”, the vessel is 65.48 metres in length and is capable of enduring low draft and moving across shallow water, Western Marine's Deputy Managing Director Mohammed Abdul Mobin told the handover ceremony in Chittagong city.