Photo : Collected
National Bank Limited (NBL) has filed a default case against listed company Western Marine Shipyard Limited (WMSL) on charge of not paying back a loan amount of Tk 939 crore. The case was filed by Principal Officer of NBL's Agrabad branch Shuja Uddin Al Mamun. The accused in the case include WMSL Chairman Md. Saiful Islam, Managing Director Captain Sohel Hassan, Director Md. Shakhawat Hossain, and others.
According to the case, WMSL applied for a loan of Tk 402 crore from NBL's Agrabad branch back in 2014. The institution was granted a total loan facility of Tk 260 crore, including Tk 150 crore in term loan, Tk 50 crore in credit against available products, and Tk 60 crore in cash credit (against mortgage).
The bank authorities again sanctioned Tk 45 crore in Letter of Credit (L/C), Tk 76 crore 63 lakh in bank guarantee and increased the cash credit (against mortgage) from Tk 60 crore to Tk 105 crore and sanctioned a total loan facility of Tk 166 crore 63 lakh when they again applied for loan on May 19.
During the loan facility, the defendants applied for reduction in the interest rate from 15 per cent to 14 per cent for term loan of Tk 50 crore, the previously sanctioned term loan of Tk 150 crore, and a loan (G) of Tk 50 crore.
In total, the debt of Western Marine Shipyard to NBL reached Tk 938 crore 72 lakh 93 thousand and 985, including the loan amount of Tk 528 crores 68 lakhs 68 lakhs 76 thousand 650, interest Tk 409 crore 80 lakh 16 thousand 744, and Tk 24 lakh 590 other charges.
The repayment period of the loan was extended due to the Covid-19, according to BRPD Circulars 13, 19, 51, 53, and 3. However, Western Marine Shipyard is considered a defaulter due to not paying the loan, and the mortgaged property was put up for sale, but no one participated in the auction.
Apart from the bank, 15-20 traders in the sector owe at least Tk 50 crore to Western Marine. Some businessmen have filed cheque dishonour cases against Western Marine. The NBL has filed a case in the Financial Debt Court to recover the unpaid debt.
Western Marine Shipyard is the first export-oriented shipbuilding company in the country and was founded by seven marine engineers. It was also listed on the stock market. They raised Tk 157 crore (50 lakh) from the stock market through an initial public offering (IPO) at a premium of Tk 25 per share in 2014.
Now due to irregularities, internal conflicts, and short-sighted planning, the amount of defaulted loans in Western Marine is Tk 2 thousand crore to at least 10 banks and financial institutions in the country.
Abul Mansoor, General Manager (Finance) of the establishment, said, "Western Marine Shipyard is an international standard shipyard. A bank loan of Tk 6-7 hundred crore has to be taken to implement this shipyard, but as the company could not pay the loan amount in due time, the loan stands at over Tk 2,000 crore now."
Although the shipyard is built on about 40 acres of land though only 28 acres of land are their own. The remaining 12 acres of land have been taken on lease for 30 years from a private company.
Recently, Western Marine was asked to vacate their leased land as they had not paid the rent for many years.
It was also learned that the officers and employees of Western Marine also have unpaid salaries and allowances. Due to the financial crisis, the construction and delivery of existing ships are also uncertain.
TDM/SD
