Background report, originally published by The Business Standard on 23 May 2025. It records a change in Bangladesh’s naval procurement that remains relevant to how the Navy sources vessels.
The contract
The Bangladesh government cancelled a $21 million order for an 800-tonne ocean-going tugboat for the Bangladesh Navy from Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), a state-run shipbuilder in Kolkata, according to a GRSE filing with India’s National Stock Exchange dated 21 May 2025. The contract had been signed in July 2024, about a month before Sheikh Hasina’s government fell, and was the first major deal under India’s $500 million defence line of credit to Bangladesh.
No stated reason
Neither the Bangladesh Navy, the Ministry of Defence nor GRSE gave a reason for the cancellation, The Business Standard reported. The report noted media references to strained relations and to India’s restriction of Bangladeshi garment imports to two seaports, but did not link these to the decision.
Since then
Since 2025 the Navy’s newbuilding has continued at its own yards, including landing craft tanks at Khulna Shipyard and patrol vessels and a floating crane at Dockyard and Engineering Works, alongside the purchase of the ex-Royal Navy survey ship HMS Enterprise from the UK.
Sources
- The Business Standard: “Bangladesh cancels $21 million deal with Indian shipbuilding firm: Reports” (23 May 2025)
File photo: the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers yard in Kolkata. Photo: Soumava2002 / CC0, 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.
