Western Marine Services Limited, will deliver a repaired dredger to the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) on January 17.
It is the only trailing suction hopper dredger named “M.D. KHANAK” in Bangladesh, which has been made operational after arduous repair work done by the Western Marine Services. The repair work costs BDT49.0 crore.
The dredger will formally be handed over to the CPA in a ceremony. CPA chairman Cdre Muhammed Anwarul Islam, heads of different government bodies, foreign experts, industrialists & other professionals are expected to attend the handing over ceremony.
Dredger ‘KHANAK’ with hopper capacity of 2500m3 sank in the Karnaphuly river after head on head collision with an inbound foreign ship on October 21, 2009.
The sunken vessel was recovered by a salvage company with extensive damage in its engines and automation system in salt water.
After arduous effort and repair work by the Western Marine has brought the inoperative vessel back to operative. This is considered to be one of the most complicated engineering recoveries of a ship in Bangladesh.
The Western Marine Services won the bidding for repair and renovation work on the June 1, 2010. Five top leading ship repairers, including Chittagong Dry Dock Ltd participated in the bidding process called by the CPA. Among the bidders, Western Marine Services was awarded for the work as it was selected as the lowest bidder.
Foreign experts from Finland, Poland, France, Singapore, UAE and Germany along with local engineers were engaged in the repair and renovation work. Genuine spare parts were imported directly from the manufacturer WARTSILA.
It is believed that a large amount of the country’s national revenue is earned from the Chittagong Port each year. Any kind of halt in port activity is considered as huge national losses. The repaired dredger will play a vital role to the port activities, allowing the ocean going vessels easy access to the port. The adding of KHANAK to the fleet of the country’s prime port will strengthen its capacity, leading contribution to the economy.
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Dredging Today Staff, January 16, 2012; Image: wms