State vessels Bangali, Madhumati count deep losses

State-owned vessels Bangali and Madhumati are counting deep losses despite classy looks and modern services, the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division or IMED has said in a report.

The IMED found a daily loss of Tk 100,000 and a combined annual loss of Tk 70 million from the vessels.

Bangali was added to the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation fleet in 2014 while Madhumati in 2015. Authorities had expected Tk 70 million in profit a year from the vessels at that time.

“The government estimated Tk 190 million in annual revenue against a cost of Tk 120 million from the two vessels. Net profit was estimated to be about Tk 70 million a year,” says the report.

Based on the report, the IMED has suggested the BIWTC take immediate steps to boost revenue.

The shipping ministry took up a Tk 450 million project in 2012 for building the two vessels. Later, the cost rose to Tk 540 million. Western Marine Shipyard Ltd built the vessels -- each 76-metre long.

The BIWTC submitted its report citing the completion of the project in December 2017. IMED visited the vessels last month.

“The vessels are capable of transporting 760 passengers in four categories of cabins, including one for VIPs. Each of the vessels has conference and dining rooms,” IMED said in its report after an inspection.

The vessels are equipped with radar GPS life jackets and electrohydraulic remote control systems to be used in case of emergency.

Each vessel is fortified with a double bottle system, which means two complete layers of watertight hull designed to prevent the ship from sinking. Moreover, both vessels are capable of operating amid dense fog.

The IMED has flagged out some reasons of the losses:

>>The jetties are far from the main terminal at Sadarghat, which means passengers do not want to walk farther down.

>>No publicity has been done for the two vessels unlike other private vessels.

>>The vessels do not follow the prescribed route. They leave the terminal in Dhaka at 6pm every day and reach Barisal through Chandpur at 4am. Therefore, the passengers sit idle on the vessels in Barisal until daybreak. The situation may change if the departure hour from Dhaka is reset at 8pm.

bdnews24.com could not reach Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan for comments on the matter.

Pranay Kanti Biswas, additional secretary and member of BIWTC management committee, said the authorities were least bothered about profit.

“The government aims to serve people and doesn’t care about money. We want to provide the passengers with the best services.”