The New Nation - Internet Edition

Business Report

BRAC Bank Limited and Western Marine Shipyard Limited signed a corporate agreement in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Under the deal, the bank will sanction a credit facility of more than BDT 1.57billion to the country's leading shipbuilding company to export two 5,200 DWT (deadweight tonnage) ocean going ice-class ships for a German company. The ships are scheduled to be exported by Dec 2010. Western Marine will build a total of 12 ships for the German company.

Western Marine Shipyard Managing Director Md. Sakhawat Hossain and BRAC Bank Deputy Managing Director Syed Mahbubur Rahman inked the deal on behalf of their respective sides. BRAC Bank Managing Director AEA Muhaimen and Western Marine Shipyard Chairman Md. Saiful Islam along with other high officials of both the companies were present at the singing ceremony. Speakers from both the sides acknowledged the various steps taken and incentives given by the present government in terms of green channel facility, single digit bank interest and declaring shipbuilding as a thrust sector.

Western Marine Shipyard commenced its activities in 1994 and built its modern slipways in 2000. The yard's areas of specialization are new building, ship modification, docking and ship repair. From 2003 to 2006 Western Marine constructed 55 vessels for the domestic market, expanding, modernizing and entering the international shipbuilding industry in 2008. Its quality management system is certified according to ISO 9001 2000.