Abstract:
There is 50+ shipyards in Bangladesh and 100 s of shipbuilders or contractors and marine workshops are actively involved in shipbuilding activities. 70% of the shipyards are located in and around Dhaka, 20% are in Chittagong and 10% are in Khulna and Barisal. Almost all inland/coastal/bay crossing ships are constructed and repaired locally in these shipyards. Local shipyards can design and fabricate ships up to 3500 DWT to complete the demand of the local market. Most of the Shipyards are operating under individual management with nominal supervision of the government. All inland and coastal ships are built by local shipyards, and the number of vessels built per year counts an average of 250. They employ a huge number of skilled and unskilled labor. Most of the private shipyards use plate, engine, component and machinery of old merchant ships which are collected from Bhatiary ship breaking industries.
The founder of OOCL, the late C Y Tung, dreamed of creating the first international Chinese merchant fleet. In 1947, he achieved that dream when the first ship with an all-Chinese crew reached the Atlantic coast of the USA and Europe. Regular cargo and passenger services were subsequently developed under the name of Orient Overseas Line. With the emergence of containerization, the company was re-named Orient Overseas Container Line in 1969. In those days, Victory-class vessels could carry 300 TEU, a far cry from today's post-Panamax vessels that ply the world's oceans. In April 2003, OOCL took delivery of the SX-Class OOCL Shenzhen, the largest container ship ever built then at 8,063 TEU. Today, OOCL has vessels of different classes with capacity varying from 2,992 TEU to 13,208 TEU, plus ice-class vessels that suit extreme weather conditions. As a member of the Grand Alliance and G6 Alliance, our vessels form part of a 290-plus fleet of ships. Both our self-owned and chartered-in vessels can carry general cargo, reefer cargo and dangerous goods, according to the needs of customers.
