Damen hosts key Bangladesh dredging seminar

Damen recently hosted a successful dredging seminar in Dhaka, Bangladesh attended by over 100 enthusiastic representatives from the Dutch Embassy in Bangladesh, experts from the Bangladesh Government, the Bangladesh Navy, local finance institutions, various customers of Damen and other industry stakeholders.

Damen is known for its range of dredging equipment including trailing suction hopper dredgers, cutters dredgers and DOP pumps. Its activities have included a number of contracts in Bangladesh, a relationship the company expects to see continuing as the country plans a number of projects for the near future.

The location of Bangladesh, on the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta, coupled with a climate that often results in cyclones and flooding, ensures that both maintenance dredging in ports and rivers and dredging to create new land are important activities in the country. Add to this the fact that the river network is used extensively for the transportation of goods and dredging becomes crucially important to the economic well-being of Bangladesh.

Damen Regional Sales Director Rabien Bahadoer said: “We have had a presence in Bangladesh since the 1970s. There are quite a number of Damen vessels in operation in the country from that time of which some are still in function. We want to support growth in Bangladesh with quality equipment, dedicated services and proper training. In order to support our fast-growing fleet of dredgers, workboats and tugboats, Damen further invests in expanding its local service centre with a modern workshop, skilled service engineers and local availability of crucial spares; all to maximise the uptime of our equipment. Also, as part of our commitment to the country and the collaboration with the Government, Damen is working closely with local shipyards to build vessels in the region, a process by which Dutch shipbuilding technology is transferred to local stakeholders.”

Guest of honour at the seminar was Her Excellency Ms Leoni Cuelenaere, the Dutch Ambassador to Bangladesh (pictured). Damen’s Product Director Dredging, Olivier Marcus, presented key points on efficient project management of dredging contracts and Wouter Breekman, Manager Damen Services Bangladesh, discussed the importance of local services, maintenance and continuous training. Dr S. M. Akbar of UBICO Investments gave his view of how the financial sector is looking at the dredging industry, and Gazi Golam Rabbani, Chairman of Dhaka Dockyard & Engineering Works, shared his views on the future of shipbuilding in Bangladesh.
Source: Damen