2 submarines, bought from China, arrive at Ctg port

Two submarines bought for Bangladesh Navy from China reached Chittagong port yesterday evening.

Chinese heavy-lift vessel MV Kang Sheng Kou carrying the submarines berthed at Chittagong Container Terminal-1 around 5:20pm, Omar Faruk, secretary of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), told The Daily Star.

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Bangladesh Navy has added the two submarines to its fleet for the first time in its history to further intensify monitoring in the Bay and enhance the force's combat capability.

On November 14, Rear Admiral Liu Zizhu on behalf of the Chinese government handed over the submarines to Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nizamuddin Ahmed at a ceremony at Liaonan shipyard in China's Dalian state.

Both the submarines are 76 metres in length and 7.6 metres in width and are equipped with torpedoes and mines which are capable to attack enemy warships and submarines.

Navy personnel of both the countries have already completed a sea trial and real training to run the submarines.

The submarines would soon be added to the naval fleet as Nabojatra and Joyjatra.

According to the cargo manifest (full cargo report) of the Chinese vessel, Poly Technologies Inc of China was the shipper of the consignment. The vessel left the Chinese port, Dalian, on December 9.

The submarines would be unloaded on December 24 and December 25.

Issuing an emergency notice on Wednesday, the CPA marine department said movement of all commercial vessels, coasters, tankers and fishing trawlers on the port channel would be kept limited from December 22-24 for the arrival of the ship and unloading of the submarines.

Besides, it has been asked to stop vessel movement completely on the channel from December 24 noon to December 25 midnight.