The government has begun reviewing the laws, rules and policies governing shipbuilding and ship recycling with the aim of making them “safe, environment friendly and sustainable sectors”, according to a Press Information Department handout reported by UNB in The Business Standard on 14 August 2026.
The meetings
Two separate meetings were held at the Secretariat on 13 August, chaired by Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo, with Industries Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir and State Minister for Shipping Razib Ahsan as special guests. The finance and industries secretaries and representatives of agencies and stakeholders attended.
Shipbuilding agenda
Presentations cited Bangladesh’s location, low labour costs, technical capability, domestic market and export potential as advantages, and identified the need for modern dry docks, modular shipbuilding and export-oriented yards. Global trends discussed included the IMO Net-Zero Framework, low-carbon fuels and LNG, green steel, carbon trading and smart shipyards. Green finance, government guarantees, public-private partnerships and export credit were highlighted as funding routes.
Ship recycling agenda
On recycling, presentations covered employment, steel raw materials, the circular economy and hazardous waste, and stressed the need for a national treatment, storage and disposal facility (TSDF) and incinerators, as well as protection of coastal and mangrove ecosystems. The meetings came a day before a fatal gas leak at a Sitakunda yard; no specific decisions were announced in the handout.
Sources
- The Business Standard (UNB): “Initiative taken to make shipbuilding, recycling industries safe” (14 August 2026)
File photo: a ship-breaking yard in Chattogram. Photo: Xalan mustafa / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This article was prepared by Maritime News BD from the report(s) and documents listed above; it was not independently reported by Maritime News BD.
