The number of oceangoing vessels that are Bangladesh-flagged has already gone past 100, a milestone illustrating the country's noticeable expansion in cargo-carrying capacity.

A total of seven vessels received permanent or provisional registration so far this year, taking the total to 101, the highest since Bangladesh achieved independence in 1971.

Bangladesh-flagged refers to a commercial vessel which is registered, licensed and operated under the laws of Bangladesh.

Now, oceangoing ships owned by Bangladesh have a combined carrying capacity of nearly 50 lakh tonnes, according to Mercantile Marine Office (MMO).

In the latest developments, a vessel named MV Jahan-1 was recently purchased by one of the leading ship-owning firms, KSRM Group.

It arrived at the outer anchorage of the Chattogram port last week to get permanent registration. Officials of the MMO and customs inspected the ship on Wednesday.

MMO Principal Officer Captain Sabbir Mahmood said, including the latest one, seven vessels, of which six are bulk carriers, have received permanent and provisional registration so far this year.

Out of the seven vessels, MV Abdullah, MV Jahan Brothers-1 and MV Jahan-1 have been purchased by KSRM Group. With the latest additions, KSRM Group's fleet now boasts 24 vessels.

Additionally, the Meghna Group of Industries purchased two bulk carriers, the Meghna Pioneer and Meghna Century, in the last couple of months, taking the number of vessels in its fleet to 24.

Meanwhile, TK Group expanded its footprint in the shipping sector as its subsidiary, Samuda Shipping, purchased an oil tanker, MT Samuda, for over Tk 150 crore with the aim of reducing the cost of transporting edible oil.

Lastly, bulk carrier Royal Arkam was procured by Vanguard Maritime.

Until 2018, there were only 36 Bangladesh-flagged oceangoing vessels.

Private investors started showing renewed interest in purchasing ships after the National Board of Revenue (NBR) reinstated a VAT exemption in 2018 in a bid to accelerate the shipping industry's growth.

The new Bangladesh Flag Vessels (Protection of Interest) Act was enacted in 2019, giving preference to Bangladeshi-flagged vessels at local ports, allowing 50 percent of goods to be carried by them.

Meherul Karim, chief executive officer of SR Shipping, a subsidiary of Chattogram-based KSRM Group, said policy support from the government as well as a global fall in prices of second-hand ships near the early stages of the pandemic encouraged local entrepreneurs to make investments and seize the opportunity.

As such, the group purchased four vessels in 2020.

However, KSRM Group faced challenging times when one of their recently purchased ships, MV Abdullah, was abducted by Somali pirates in March. It was released a month later following the payment of a huge amount as ransom.

Despite facing such a shock, the group is investing to purchase more ships.

Karim held the prevailing favourable global shipping market responsible for continued investment. He also said they are in the process of scrapping four of their old ships, so they are buying ships to replace the old ones.

Bangladesh Ocean Going Ship Owners' Association President Azam J Chowdhury said a tax exemption on income earned by oceangoing vessels carrying the Bangladeshi flag until 2030 attracted investment in the sector over the last few years.

Praising the government and NBR for such policy support, Chowdhury said it is high time to invest in the sector.

Chowdhury, also managing director of MJL Bangladesh, informed that his firm is investing US $150 million to purchase a huge crude oil carrier with a capacity of 115,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) and an 11,000 cubic metre capacity LPG carrier.

The two will be added to the MJL fleet by 2026, he added

Among other measures, the NBR also reduced the advance income tax (AIT) on vessel imports to 1 percent for FY22 from 2 percent in FY21.

Given the favourable policy support from the government, a total of 67 Bangladesh-flagged vessels were registered between 2019 and 2023.

Of these, 13 were registered in 2019, 15 in 2020, 12 in 2021, 15 in 2022 and 12 in 2023, according to the MMO.

Captain Mahmood added that a few more vessels were in the process of applying for registration.