Number of flag carrier ships increasing

Staff Reporter :
The number of national flag carrier oceangoing ships is increasing in transportation of goods by sea, which help save the country’s forex reserve as the Bangladeshi traders have to spend over $9 billion annually as freight charges for export and import purposes.
The total number of oceangoing ships carrying Bangladeshi flag has reached 90 and the number will be 100 by December, sources in the Department of Shipping (DoS) told The New Nation on Monday.
According to sources, the government has exempted tax in a bid to earn foreign currency $3 billion to $4 billion a year by Bangladeshi flagged oceangoing ships.
New oceangoing ships are being added to the national flag carrier fleet day by day due to the government’s policy and various supports including reduction of customs duties.
The number of national flag carrier seagoing ships is now 90 after adding 18 ships to the Bangladesh’s cargo fleet from January to August, which is a record in the history of Bangladesh, DoS sources said.
According to sources, at least 10 more seagoing ships are likely to be added with the cargo fleet by next December and the number of ships is likely to reach 100.
According to multiple sources, the government has given incentives to buy ships by withdrawing advance tax in the last budget and extended the life of old ships at 25 years instead of 22 years. Besides, it has also fixed the selling period after import three years instead of five years, the ship owners now feel encouraged to purchase or construction of more ships in the country.
According to the DoS, it has registered 90 seagoing vessels till August 2022 under public-private initiative. Among them, 67 are open cargo ships, 13 tankers, three gas carriers, six container ships and one multipurpose ship. The number of ships was 67 until 2012, sources said adding that the purchase of ships were suddenly started to decrease between 2014 and 2015 which came down to 47.
However, the number of ships increased to 64 in 2020 and 73 in 2021 and at last reached to 90 by August 2022.
“It is very profitable business and Bangladesh can earn huge foreign currency from oceangoing cargo ships. It needs Tk 150 crore to construct a one lakh capacity seagoing ship,” Abdus Samad, a naval architect told this correspondent.