Coast Guard to get 4 new ships
BSS
The government is strengthening further the capacity of the Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG), with adding four new ships to its fleet from Italy, reports BSS.
Out of the four new ships, two are arriving in the end of July and the rest two will be here in next December or January 2017, official sources said.
The new ships are adding to the BCG in line with the governments constant effort to build more capacity of the coast guard to ensure maritime security, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told BSS.
He said the addition of the new chips to the BCG would help combat cross-border illegal trade and criminal activities in the countrys coastal belt.
The four big ships would also ensure security of the fishing trawlers, which is vital to develop and explore the huge prospect of the blue economy, the minister said.
Referring to the various initiatives of the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he said the coast guard and other law enforcing agencies and departments concerned had already been strengthened to combat human trafficking, smuggling and other crimes in the countrys frontier and coastal areas.
The home ministry sources said that the BCG already got a number of speedboats from the US government to provide emergency support, particularly to the fishermen during Hilsa catching season.
The coast guard would also get locally built ships in the near future as some local shipyards, including Narayanganj and Khulna Shipyards, are also building new ships for the government, the sources said.
