US donates 20 vessels to Bangladesh Navy, Coast Guard

The United States has donated 20 vessels to Bangladesh to help increase capacity to monitor, patrol, and respond to threats within the country's coastal waters and Economic Exclusive Zone.

US Ambassador Earl Miller handed over the vessels to Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Coast Guard in a virtual ceremony with Bangladesh Assistant Chief of Naval Staff for Operations Rear Admiral M Ashraful Haq and Rear Admiral Ashraf Hoq Chowdhury, Director General of the Bangladesh Coast Guard, in a virtual event today.

The event marked the formal handover of 10 38-foot (11-meter) Defiant Class Metal Shark Boats, and 10 25-foot (8-meter) Defender Class Boats to the Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Coast Guard following a request from the Bangladesh government, according to a statement of the US embassy in Dhaka.

The US government provided the Metal Shark and Defender boats to improve the Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard's ability to conduct maritime security operations and increase their capacity to monitor, patrol, and respond to threats within Bangladesh's coastal waters and Economic Exclusive Zone.

The 20 boats will significantly improve the maritime interdiction and counterterrorism capabilities of the Bangladesh Coast Guard and Bangladesh Navy's Special Operations Force Special Warfare Dive and Salvage Unit, it said.

The US, along with Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard sailors, will conduct joint exercises in the coming months to utilise the new tool.

"These boats are another great example of the long history of close security cooperation between the United States and Bangladesh," Ambassador Miller said.

This donation demonstrates the US government's commitment to supporting Bangladesh in protecting its maritime borders and the freedom of navigation in the Bay of Bengal.