Bangladesh earned $22.53 million from ship exports in the fiscal year ended 30 June 2026, up 666.33 per cent from $2.94 million a year earlier, according to Export Promotion Bureau data cited by bdnews24.com on 13 July 2026.
Exports began in 2008 with $40.44 million and peaked at $65.61 million in 2016-17, before falling to zero in FY2021, FY2022 and FY2024. Only two companies currently export ships: Ananda Shipyard and Slipways in Dhaka and Western Marine Shipyard in Chattogram.
Western Marine has exported six medium-sized ships to the UAE in the past 18 months and has five larger vessels in preparation; its managing director told the outlet, “We’ve turned things around now.” Ananda resumed exports in September 2025 with a vessel to Turkey but has not exported since and cannot take new orders because of financial difficulties, the report said.
A Tk 20 billion Bangladesh Bank refinancing fund set up in May 2022 at a maximum 4.5 per cent rate has not been drawn by any shipbuilder, while a 2021 policy projected $4 billion in annual ship exports. Economist Zaidi Sattar argues the roughly $115 billion small and medium vessel market offers Bangladesh more potential than large ships.
Source
- bdnews24.com: “Bangladesh’s shipbuilding sector caught between hope and uncertainty” (13 July 2026)
File photo: the gate of Khulna Shipyard. Photo: Mamun2a / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This article is a summary prepared by Maritime News BD from the report(s) listed above; it was not independently reported by Maritime News BD.
