Two more offshore patrol vessels sail for home from UK

Bangladesh Navy procured a total of five vessels from the United Kingdom and three of them had already arrived.

During their 8,000 nautical mile voyage, the ships will make brief stopovers at Tangier in Morocco, Port Said in Egypt, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Raysut in Oman and Colombo in Sri Lanka on a "goodwill visit as well as to replenish ration, fuel and provisions", an official release said yesterday.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

Earlier, Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK AH Mufazzal Karim, officials of the Royal Navy and senior officers of the Bangladesh High Commission bade farewell to BNS Sangu and Turag prior to their departure.

"The newly acquired OPVs are expected to enhance surveillance capabilities of Bangladesh Navy over the vast exclusive economic zone of the country," says the ISPR release.

Moreover, it added, these acquisitions would facilitate the Navy further to combat smuggling, piracy and other unlawful activities and to protect the marine resources.