Local company buying new oil tanker for the first time

For the first time, a local private company is going to buy a new oil tanker instead of purchasing a second hand one to avail better performances and a longer service period.

MJL Bangladesh, a joint venture of East Coast Group and state-owned Jamuna Oil Company, has placed an order to buy an oil tanker at $75 million (over Tk 800 crore) from South Korean shipbuilder DH Shipbuilding, said a top MJL official.

The ship has a 115,000-tonne capacity and is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2026, said Azam J Chowdhury, managing director of MJL Bangladesh.

Ship owners in Bangladesh have had a tradition of buying second hand ships, meaning those that were already aged 10 years to 12 years and which could be operated for a maximum of 12 more years, he said.

"But a new ship can be operated for up to 25 years. So, we thought to graduate from this in order to get better performance," he said, adding that the contract was signed at the end of last month.

The new tanker will have a scrubber, or an exhaust gas cleaning system, to take out sulphur and it will be able to carry crude oil and later diesel, said Chowdhury.

MJL currently has two oil tankers having 107,000 tonnes capacity. Besides, it operates five carrier vessels, including one for carrying liquified petroleum gas.