Western Marine exports two tugboats to UAE, earning $1.6m

Chattogram-based shipbuilding company Western Marine Shipyard Ltd has exported two tugboats to the UAE. 

Through the export, the shipbuilder has earned $1.6 million, it said.

The tugboats —Ghaya, an 80-tonne bollard pull ASD tug, and Khalid, a 65-tonne bollard pull AHT tug—were officially handed over to UAE-based Marwan Shipping Ltd at the Chittagong Boat Club today in the presence of Humaid Mohammed Abdulla Darwish Al Tamimi, chargé d'Affaires of the UAE Embassy in Dhaka.

The vessels are the 35th and 36th ships Western Marine has exported since it began international operations in 2017.

Ghaya was built under the classification of Bureau Veritas, while Khalid is classified under the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)—marking ABS's first-ever classified ship built in Bangladesh.

As the chief guest at the event, Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Hafiz, special assistant to the Chief Adviser for Defence and National Solidarity Development, highlighted the potential of Bangladesh's shipbuilding industry, calling it a $400 billion global market. 

He stressed the need for domestic and foreign investment, saying, "Even a 1% share of the market could bring $2 billion to Bangladesh annually."

He said that Western Marine's export of the two tugboats demonstrates the growing global appeal of the 'Made in Bangladesh' brand.

In his speech, Khalid Almarzooqi, managing director of the UAE's Marwan Shipping Ltd, said they are gradually purchasing eight different types of vessels from Bangladesh's Western Marine. "We have a demand for 15 to 20 more vessels."

Captain Sohail Hasan, managing director of Western Marine, said the two tugboats are part of a larger deal signed in 2023 with Marwan Shipping. The agreement includes the construction of eight vessels—two tugboats, four landing craft, and two oil tankers. Ryan, a 69-metre landing craft, was launched in January 2025 under this contract. The remaining five vessels will be delivered by 2026.

Over the last two decades, Western Marine has constructed more than 150 vessels of various types, including cargo ships, oil tankers, passenger ferries, offshore patrol vessels, fishing boats, landing crafts, tugboats, and container carriers.