Shipping Corporation should maintain profitable status, expand fleet: Yunus

The Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) must remain a strong and profitable institution, stressing the need to expand its fleet and further strengthen its financial capacity, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus said.

"BSC should maintain the profitable status it has achieved in recent years. Future plans should focus on strengthening the institution through its own income and expanding the fleet by adding new ships," he said while speaking at a cheque handover ceremony at the State Guest House Jamuna today (14 January).

Yunus said the addition of more ships to the BSC fleet would boost morale among sailors and create new employment opportunities.

He also emphasised retaining instructors at marine academies with appropriate honorariums to ensure the production of world-class seafarers.

Plans are underway to acquire several ships, including four new large vessels (mother vessels) from China on a government-to-government (G2G) basis, according to the Chief Adviser's Press Wing.

The BSC earned the highest-ever profit of Tk306.56 crore in the last fiscal year, generating around Tk800 crore in revenue, an unprecedented achievement in its 54-year history.

The Press Wing said that the five ships added to the fleet under the recent project have played a significant role in BSC's continued progress.

Following the chief adviser's directives, BSC has already taken steps to acquire additional vessels.

The first ship, Banglar Pragati, acquired under the corporation's self-financed two bulk carrier project, was delivered and deployed in trade on 28 October 2025 and the second ship, Banglar Navajatra, is scheduled for delivery on 30 January 2026.

Meanwhile, the process of acquiring two MR product oil tankers with government funding and one Ultramax bulk carrier with private funding is ongoing.

At the ceremony, the chief adviser received a cheque amounting to Tk203.47 crore, representing dividends declared for the fiscal year 2024–2025 and instalments payable under the Subsidiary Loan Agreement (SLA) for repayment of loans taken for six ship-purchase projects implemented by BSC under the Ministry of Shipping.

Shipping Adviser M Sakhawat Hossain and BSC Managing Director Commodore Mahmudul Malek handed over the cheque.

Commodore Mahmudul Malek said that a Loan Agreement (LA) was signed on 14 October 2016, between the Government of Bangladesh (Economic Relations Division) and the Government of China (China Exim Bank) for the project titled "Purchase of Six New Ships."

The project included the acquisition of three product oil tankers of approximately 39,000 DWT each and three bulk carriers on a G2G basis for BSC.

The principal loan amount was 1,199,999,070 yuan, equivalent to Tk1,457.68 crore.

Subsequently, a Subsidiary Loan Agreement (SLA) was signed between the Finance Division and BSC on 27 October 2024, to facilitate loan repayment.

Under this agreement, BSC will pay a total of Tk2,425.02 crore to the Government of Bangladesh over a period of 13 years.

As per the SLA, the total interest amount accrued during the grace period stood at Tk475.25 crore, for which a cheque was officially handed over to the chief adviser on 26 November 2024.

After a gap of 27 years without any new ship procurement, six commercial vessels were added to the BSC fleet during the 2018–19 period.

Of these, five vessels, MV Banglar Joyjatra, MV Banglar Arjan, MT Banglar Agrajatra, MT Banglar Agradut, and MT Banglar Agragati, are currently engaged in international commercial cargo operations and proudly flying the national flag of Bangladesh.