Chittagong Dry Dock handed over to Navy
Chittagong: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said the handover of the Chittagong Dry Dock to Bangladesh Navy is a milestone in Bangladesh’s shipbuilding history as it marks gradual advancement of the force.
‘It’s my expectation that the Bangladesh Navy will keep its sign of success through turning Chittagong Dry Dock Limited as a state of the art and effective organization,’ she told a function marking the handover of the enterprise to Navy on Chittagong Dry Dock premises.
The Prime Minister said once the Dry Dock was a sick enterprise but it will turn into a healthy and profitable one and contribute to the economic development of the country.
She hoped that the Dry Dock authorities will be able to meet the local demand and thus be able to export abroad.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally handed over the order of the transfer to the Managing Director of the Dry Dock Commodore M Jahangir Alam and unveiled the nameplate of the dry dock at its premises.
The handover agreement was signed by Industries Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff Rear Admiral SAMA Abedin.
Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, Navy Chief Vice Admiral M Farid Habib, Industries Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan also spoke on the occasion.
She said Bangladesh Naval ship ‘Sandwip’ and Bangladesh Naval ship ‘Hatiya’ built in Khulna shipyard have already been commissioned.
Besides, two landing craft tank (LCT) recently built in Narayanganj dockyard have been commissioned to Navy. ‘We’ve established ourselves as a shipbuilding county in global arena through such advancement of the country’s shipyards,’ she said.
Sheikh Hasina assured the workers of Chittagong Dry Dock that the transfer of the Dry Dock to Bangladesh Navy would not be a cause of losing their jobs, rather it would create an opportunity for them to fully utilise their working efficiency.
Chittagong Dry Dock Limited was created as a complementary facility to Chittagong Port Authority to cater to the regular and emergency repair needs of the National flag Vessels as well as the vessels that touches the Chittagong Port Authority.
The project was launched in 1967 but was stopped in 1971 due to the Liberation War. After the country’s independence, the project work resumed with revival and re-validation of the agreement with the then Yugoslav government and their firms M/s PIM and Brodimeks.
In 1978, a new dock was integrated for the construction of seagoing vessels in place of slipway with a plan to construct three vessels of 16500 DWT in two years and carry out docking of 30 vessels and repair 50 vessels a year.
Though finally implemented in 1985, the plant actually started its operation in 1981 after the commissioning of the gracing dock. CDDL was set up in 1985 at Patenga.