The newly acquired bulk carrier of Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC), MV Banglar Progoti, is currently on its maiden commercial voyage to Chattogram.

The vessel departed the Chinese port of Dangdong on November 4 carrying 60,500 tonnes of slag, a key raw material for cement production, and is scheduled to arrive in Kutubdia on November 20.

This marks the first time the state-owned shipping agency has purchased vessels with its own funds, following an international tender floated in June this year.

BSC formally took ownership of MV Banglar Progoti, one of two newly procured ships, from US-based Hellenic Dry Bulk Ventures LLC in London on October 21. The vessel was physically received at Nanyang Shipyard in China on October 23.

On October 26, the 199-metre-long carrier, with a capacity of 63,500 deadweight tonnes (DWT), was handed over to Hong Kong-based charterer LTE Shipping at a daily charter rate of $20,000.

BSC Managing Director Commodore Mahmudul Malek today said the vessel had been chartered to the Hong Kong company for an initial period of three months, giving the charterer full discretion over routing and cargo handling.

"It is a coincidence that the cargo it loaded from China is bound for Bangladeshi importers and thus its first commercial voyage is for Chattogram," Malek said.

The ship is transporting slag imported by four cement producers – Unique Cement Industries Ltd, Heidelberg Cement, Confidence Cement, and Crown Cement.

Each of the two vessels was purchased for $38.349 million, which is 4.60 percent below the estimated cost, according to BSC officials.

Construction of the second vessel, MV Banglar Nobojatra, is now around 90 percent complete. The BSC chief expressed hope that it would be delivered by December.