Department of Shipping is a Bangladesh government regulatory agency under the Ministry of Shipping of Bangladesh responsible for maritime safety, formulation and enforcement of maritime regulation. The Director General of the Department of Shipping is Commodore Mohammad Maksud Alam.
History The agency came into existence in 1976 through the merger of Directorate of Shipping and the Controller of Shipping. It is responsible for the regulation of maritime activity in Bangladesh. The department is responsible for safety of inland navigation and issuing registration and annual fitness certificates of the vessels. International Maritime Organization has scrutinized the role of the Department of Shipping over fake competency certificate issued to ships.
Captain AKM Shafiqullah tried to remain in the post of Director General through a verdict of the High Court Division in 2009 and preventing Rear Admiral Bazlur Rahman from taking charge. He had faced criticism for allowing a ship blacklisted by greenpeace to enter Bangladesh for dismantling disobeying instructions from the Prime Minister's Office.
The Department in 2016 blamed lack of flag protection and high interest rate for the dwindling number of Bangladeshi flag carry ships.
List of director generals + List of Ex-Director Generals Sl. No. Name Period From Period Till Reference 1 Captain M. Shafi 1 August 1976 7 September 1977 2 Captain Q. A. B. M. Rahman 8 September 1977 15 July 1978 3 M. Rawshan Ali (Acting) 16 July 1978 24 October 1978 4 Captain Sufi Md. Ashraful Islam (Acting) 25 October 1978 25 July 1979 5 Abdur Rab (Acting) 26 July 1979 26 August 1979 6 Captain Sufi Md. Ashraful Islam (Acting) 27 August 1979 29 November 1979 7 Captain M. Rahman 30 November 1979 14 September 1980 8 Captain M. Shafi 15 September 1980 23 May 1983 9 Captain Sufi Md. Ashraful Islam (Acting) 24 May 1983 15 January 1984 10 Md. Jalal Uddin Ahmed (Acting) 16 January 1984 23 May 1984 11 Tarek Aneesh Ahmed 24 May 1984 13 September 1986 12 Air Commodore Moin-ul-Islam 14 September 1986 15 August 1987 13 Abdun Noor (Acting) 16 August 1987 13 September 1987 14 Captain Sufi Md. Ashraful Islam 14 September 1987 13 September 1990 15 Fazlur Rahman Chowdhury (Acting) 14 September 1990 9 March 1991 16 Moha: Mazharul Haque (Acting) 10 March 1991 22 February 1992 17 A. M. Khan Chowdhury 23 February 1992 3 November 1992 18 Md. Akhtar Kamal (Contractual) 4 November 1992 3 November 1994 19 Abdul Malek 8 November 1994 28 April 1998 20 Captain M. Azizul Haque 29 April 1998 31 December 1998 21 Abdul Malek 3 January 1999 29 November 2001 22 Captain A. K. M. Ahsanul Azim 3 December 2001 14 January 2002 23 Abdul Malek (Contractual) 15 January 2002 6 July 2002 24 Captain A. K. M. Ahsanul Azim 7 July 2002 31 July 2002 25 Commodore M Ghulam Rabbani 1 August 2002 23 April 2003 26 Captain A. K. M. Ahsanul Azim 23 April 2003 23 November 2004 27 Captain A. K. M. Shafiqullah 24 November 2004 31 March 2009 28 Rear Admiral Bazlur Rahman 1 April 2009 31 March 2011 29 Commodore Jobair Ahmad 1 April 2011 24 December 2013 30 Commodore Md Zakiur Rahman Bhuiyan 24 December 2013 17 January 2017 31 Commodore Syed Ariful Islam 17 January 2017 13 August 2020 32 Commodore Abu Zafar Md. Jalal Uddin 13 August 2020 26 July 2022 33 Commodore Md. Nizamul Haque 26 July 2022 22 May 2023
See also
Bangladesh Marine Fisheries Academy
References