HR Lines acquires two more ships to operate on intra-Asia routes

DHAKA : HR Lines, Bangladesh’s lone flag carrier container vessel operator, has acquired two more boxships and will soon deploy them between Chittagong and the transshipment ports like Colombo in Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Port Klang in Malaysia.

The two new vessels, HR Turag (1,100 TEUs) and HR Balu (1,700 TEUs), brought the total number of container vessels owned by the operator to eight, having a combined total capacity of 11,840 TEUs.

Of the existing eight ships of the operator, four are deployed in the Chittagong-Colombo route having a twice-weekly frequency.

Two other ships are operating on the Chittagong – Singapore – Port Klang – Chittagong route having weekly service.

From February, the eight HR Lines vessels will have a total of 16 sailings a month into and out of Chittagong which is the highest number of frequencies of any operator have service in the major Bangladeshi port.

“We plan to acquire more ships during the course of this year and this will facilitate further enhancement and upgradation of our feeder services connecting Chittagong port with major transshipment hubs of Colombo, Singapore and Port Klang,” said Raimah Chowdhury, managing director of HR Lines.

“Our immediate focus is to deploy over 50% of the total trade tonnage between Chittagong and each of the hubs,” she pointed out.

Hamdan Hossain Chowdhury, managing director of Karnaphuli Ltd, the parent organisation of the operator, said the company started its journey 30 months back with two ships with a total focus on schedule integrity and grown capacities on a constant and regular basis.

“This is very much in harmony with our aspirations to be the premier feeder operator in the region, proudly flying the Bangladesh flag across the oceans,” he commented.