SUSHANTA GHOSH

Seat bookings for passenger ships that ply the inland waterways of Bangladesh, including the Barishal to Dhaka route, has decreased by at least 66 percent.

Industry people said rotating the vessels, or launches, and changing their routes were among other measures implemented for reducing their losses, but to no avail.

Now on the brink of financial ruin, launch owners are considering whether to cut losses by exiting the business altogether.

Razin ul Kabir, who owns a passenger ship named Suravi, said it costs about Tk 1.8 lakh in fuel, labour and other expenses for each trip to Barishal from Dhaka.

But the current volume of seat bookings barely covers half of this amount, he added.

For these reasons, there have been no new investments in the launch business. Kabir also informed how some launch owners that left the business cut their vessels into pieces for sale as scrap. Besides, some of these owners that invested in other businesses are seeing success.

“We launched a luxury bus service called Suravi Paribahan on the Dhaka-Barisal route. Already, 12 buses have been added to its fleet,” he said.

Sources at the Launch Owners’ Association said demand for launch services fell as people are reluctant to travel at the slow speeds they offer, especially since Padma Bridge significantly boosted road connectivity with southwestern regions.

However, industry people believe that launch services could survive if the vessels are repurposed as luxury waterway passenger transport services.

Sources at the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority said around 16 launch services were plying the Dhaka-Barishal route before the opening of Padma Bridge.

Now though, there are just four launch services on the route that operate on a rotational basis to cut costs, with each getting only one round-trip each week.

“But amid the lack of sufficient customers, launch owners are struggling to meet their operational expenses,” said Abul Hashem, president of the Barisal Divisional Noujan Sramik Federation.

He informed that aside from launch owners, other people close to the business, such as crewmen and riverport workers, are also suffering in this situation.

“Two-thirds of the launch workers have already lost their jobs, with many being unable to find new employment,” Hashem said.

Launch owners said at least 50,000 people would travel by launch from Dhaka to various districts in the southwest, including Barisal, every day before Padma Bridge was opened.

However, the passenger volume has dropped by about two-thirds since then, they added. A source at the Launch Owners’ Association said there are calls to sell idle launches almost every month. Already, 10 to 12 launches have been sold as scrap.

Last week, the launch Adventure-1, which is running on the Dhaka-Barisal route, called for buyers on social media, he added.

Saifur Rahman Pintu, a member of the Launch Owners’ Association and director of Sundarban Navigation, said they are not able to even collect enough money to cover fuel costs.

“We are defaulting on bank interest payments. The launch business has turned into a sick industry at this point,” he added.

Barishal River Port Officer Abdur Razzak said passenger movement through Barishal River Port has already fallen by around 66 percent.

Earlier, eight launches would operate from Barisal River Port while there are just two launches at present.

As such, earnings from ticket sales at port counters have decreased to about Tk 26,000 from roughly Tk 90,000 previously.