The last ship export from Bangladesh was in September 2022. Ship exports are starting again after almost two years. Western Marine Shipyard, a Chittagong-based ship exporting company, will export a ship named 'Rayan' to the United Arab Emirates in the first week of January.

Western Marine Shipyard has brought to light the long-awaited export of this landing craft-type ship. The company has said that it will gradually export seven more ships to the same buyer.

According to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the company last exported ships on January 29, 2020. On that day, they exported two ships worth $11 million to India. This marks the company's return to exports after five years. However, during this time, the shipyard built ships for various domestic companies.

Western Marine Shipyard Managing Director Captain Sohel Hasan told Hardnews that the drought in ship exports is going to end after a long time. After overcoming the global recession, the shipbuilding sector is now growing again. This has increased the possibility of new orders coming in.

Dhaka's Ananda Shipyard and Slipways was the first ship exporter from Bangladesh. The journey began with the export of ships to Denmark on September 14, 2008. Then in 2010, the name of Western Marine Shipyard of Chittagong was added to the ship export. On November 30 of that year, the company exported a sea-going ship to Germany. Both of these are ship exporting companies from Bangladesh.
However, even though Bangladeshi entrepreneurs showed potential in ship exports a decade and a half ago, it was short-lived. Because, since 2011, the main impact of the global shipbuilding industry recession began to be felt in Bangladesh. Foreign buyers canceled many export orders. After the outbreak of Corona and the Russia-Ukraine war, this sector suffered another blow. Entrepreneurs were affected by these two factors. The loans of the two ship exporting companies also became irregular. However, they are now standing up again by utilizing the government's special policy support.

During the recession, Anand Shipyard's order for 10 ships was cancelled. The cancellation came at a time when construction of five ships was in full swing. Two years ago, they exported two ships to other buyers. Now, the company has found buyers for the remaining three ships under construction. Once financing is available, they want to complete the construction of these three ships and export them.
When asked, Tariqul Islam, executive director of Ananda Shipyard and Slipways, said, "Representatives of the Turkish buyer visited our yard two weeks ago. If everything goes well, it will be possible to complete the remaining construction work of these three ships and export them."

According to sources from the National Board of Revenue and entrepreneurs, a total of 45 ships and watercraft have been exported since 2006. Of these, 19 are ocean-going ships. The rest are ferries and various types of ocean-going vessels. The export of these ships and watercraft has earned the equivalent of about 1500 crore taka in foreign exchange.