Keel Laying Ceremony of floating hospital ships
DHAKA, Dec. 18 (NsNewsWire) — The Keel Laying Ceremony of 5 floating hospital ships was held on
17 th December, Sunday at Ispahanir Char, Gozaria, Munshiganj. For the first time in the history of
Bangladesh a fully dedicated floating hospital ship is being designed and constructed by naval architects
and shipbuilding engineers exclusively from Bangladesh.
Abdul Baki, Joint Secretary, Economic Relations Development, Finance Ministry, Government of the
People’s Republic of Bangladesh was the chief guest of the event. Dr. Nizad M. Subei, Director, Fael
Khair Program, Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia was the special guest and Runa Khan,
Founder and Executive Director, Friendship was the guest of Honor on this occasion. Mr. Shah Abdul
Latif, Managing Director, NESL; Chowdhury Fakruzzaman, Technical Consultant Friendship were also
present.
The floating hospital ships will be operated by Friendship with the support of the Fael Khair Program
through the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). Narayanganj Engineering & Shipbuilding Limited will
construct the ships. The subsequent healthcare services will be provided in the riverine northern and
southern regions of Bangladesh for the next 5 years to the marginalized and ultra-poor people who are
deprived from access to proper medical care.
The keel laying ceremony is the formal start of construction of a ship. These 5 ships are designed from
the start to be floating hospitals. With a draft of only 1.2 metre they are specifically designed to reach hard
to reach areas. Four of them are 25 meters in length and one is 31 meters. All Floating ships are self-
propelled with 4 decks complete with hospital facilities including operation theatre, doctors’ chambers and
other medical facilities. First 2 ships will be delivered by end of 2018 and next 3 by first quarter of 2019.
Runa Khan, Founder and Executive Director, Friendship said, “when a person is suffering no other
development interventions matter. I hope these 5 hospital ships will bring incredible hope to the lives of
those who otherwise wouldn’t have gotten access to healthcare.”
Dr. Nizad M Subai, Director, Fael Khair, IDB said “Fael Khair is a fund of 266 million dollars donated by
the late King of Saudi Arabia King Abdullah. The plan is to setup 75 mobile clinics in 7 Asian Islamic
countries. With the objective of helping poor people far from regular access, thus helping society at whole
by helping those who need it most.”
Abdul Baki, Joint Secretary, Economics Relations Development, Finance Ministry said, “Lot of people are
still out of reach from health services, both private and state. It is therefore through the effort of the whole
nation that people in remote areas can be brought out of the poverty trap. Bangladesh plans to be a
poverty free country by 2030. Big thanks to Runa Khan and Friendship for helping towards this national
goal.”
About Friendship
Friendship is a non-governmental organization that aims to help poor people in remote and unaddressed
communities in Bangladesh. Founded by Runa Khan in 2002, Friendship began with the innovative
concept of a floating hospital and progressively built its distinctive integrated community development
model, which includes health, education, disaster management, sustainable economic development,
good governance, and cultural preservation. Source: Press Release