The New Nation - Internet Edition

BUSINESS REPORT

Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Ltd, the country's first ship building and exporting company, is going to handover its first cargo ship, 'Stella Maris,' to the concerned sipping company of Denmark tomorrow (Thursday).

This was announced by Afruja Bari, Managing Director of Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Ltd, at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters' Unity auditorium yesterday.

'For the first time Bangladesh is going to be known as a ship-exporting country in the world through the export of this ship. A golden-age of good fortune and economic prosperity is going to be unfolded with this first-ever export of ship to a European country," she said.

Commerce and Education Adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman will formally handover the ship as the chief guest to the representative of Stella Shipping of Denmark at a function at Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Ltd complex premises at Meghnaghat under Sonargaon upazila in Narayanganj at 11:00am on that day.

Dr Abdullahel Bari, Chairman, Ananda Group, who is also a naval architect by profession, also spoke at the press conference and replied to the queries of journalists.

Alauddin A Majid, Director (Finance), Mrs Fahmida Bulbul Kakoli, Director (Establishment), Md Rakibur Rahman Chowdhury, Director (Admn), Saiful Islam, Director (Technical) and A Ahsan Kabir, General Manager of Ananda Group were present.

Afruja Bari said her company signed a contract with Stella Shipping of Denmark on September 30, 2005 for building this cargo ship, having some 3,000 tonnes of carrying capacity. "This ship is equivalent to any modern ocean-going vessel," she said.

The Managing Director said the quality of the ship has been certified as 'satisfactory', and Ananda Shipyard was awarded with the Century Quality Award in Geneva on March 10, 2008 for maintaining quality in shipbuilding work.

She said Ananda Shipyard has received work-orders from the governments of Denmark and Germany of Europe and Mozambique of Africa.

"We have received work orders worth Tk 1,100 crore for exporting 20 ships in one year, and foreign currency worth more than Tk 200 crore of the amount has already reached the country," she said.

Afruja Bari said Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Ltd built first class ship at its shipyard in 1992 and first international standard coastal ships in 1998. It has been using computer-controlled plate-cutting machines in shipbuilding industry since 2005.