History
The construction works of KSY started in 1954 under supervision of the East Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (EPIDC)[8] with the technical support of M/s. Stulcken Sohn, who provided the design for the construction of the yard facilities. After completion of works, It was commissioned on 27 November 1957, with the objective to build and repair ships of various clients, for defense, coast guard, oil company, ports and manufacture engineering parts to support other industries.
Burness Corleft+Partner and Maienform administratively and technically managed the company up to 1967. Afterwards the control was vested with its own expert engineers both technically and administratively. Through most of its early history the shipyard was not profitable, but it turned to profit between 1973 and 1984 before becoming unprofitable again.[8]
On 3 October 1999, the Bangladesh Navy took over the responsibilities of KSY along with a 993.7 million taka debt. The Navy invested 614.6 million BDT in the shipyard during the handover.
In January 2005, Bangladesh Navy complained to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia that government organizations were not giving their contract to Khulna Shipyard. It also sought permission to import raw materials for the shipyard tax free. Member of parliament, Mahbubur Rahman, speculated that the reason for that was government officials would not get kickbacks if they awarded the contract to Khulna Shipyard.
By 2008, all outstanding debts were cleared and since then, the shipyard has been making profit.[9][10][11] Its current production includes tugs, workboats and other vessels up to 5000 DWT.[8]
In 2015, the Maldives had expressed interest in procuring patrol craft for its Coast Guard.[12] [13]
Khulna Shipyard provided six patrol crafts, designed by South African Icarus Marine, to Bangladesh Coast Guard in February 2022.[14]
The shipyard, in cooperation with Swisscontact, is the home of Bangladesh's first internationally certified welding training facility.[15] The facility was funded by Chevron.[16]
