KHULNA, Oct 5: The four warships built for Bangladesh Navy will be handed over on November 8 this year.
President Md Abdul Hamid will be present as chief guest at the handing over ceremony of the warships at Khalishpur Titumir Naval Jetty in the district.
The warships categorised as patrol and submarine tag boats were built by Khulna Shipyard (KSY) at a cost of Tk 942 crore and will be handed over to Bangladesh Navy, said an official of KSY.
With a cruising speed of 25 nautical miles and a maximum speed of 30 nautical miles, the patrol boats are equipped with modern military guns and automatic arms facilities which can be used against submarine.
The construction works of 64.2X9-metre two patrol boats, namely BN Nishan and Durgam, were inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on September 6, 2015 while two submarine tag boats, namely Halda and Pashur, were launched by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nizam Uddin Ahmed on December 31 in 2016.
General Manager (Production) of KSY Captain M Nurul Islam Sharif said, with the increasing demand for ships in the global market, Khulna Shipyard will be hopefully able to construct and export more ships with Chinese and Malaysian assistance.
Construction of four warships has already been completed, he said, adding that each warship is compatible with global standard, and the costing is cheaper than international markets.
"Warships will be handed over to Bangladesh Navy, and these will be used for keeping security at sea boundary, sea resource collection and development of economy," he said.
KSY Managing Director Commodore K Kamrul Hasan said, KSY was a lost organisation before 1999, and after handing over to Bangladesh Navy as per decision by the Prime Minister, KSY was turned into a profitable organisation since then.
"Khulna Shipyard is playing a vital role for the security of the country through constructing warships, submarines and other patrolling items for Bangladesh Army, Navy and Coast Guard," he said.
Earlier, KSY has built five warships, Padma, Surma, Atandrya, Adommya and Aparajeyo, in the last six years.
