THE STORY OF M.V. SOLIDARITY (RENAMED M.V. BANGLAR KIRAN): Mubashir Ahmed Khan (2E)
The story of Bangladesh Shipping Corporation’s ship M V Solidarity is quite interesting. The vessel was built at Karachi Shipyard under the technical collaboration programme between the respective Governments of Pakistan and Poland. So, the machinery was from Poland. It was a dry cargo ship (9267 GRT) with midship Engine Room, three holds forward and two holds aft. The Main Engine was SULZER (9600 BHP). The building years were roughly .1978—1979. The ship was built for United Arab Emirates, so the Registration and Flag was Sharjah. The UAE Government handed over M V Solidarity to Bangladesh on the basis of “pay as you earn”. Late Salahuddin Ahmad, Senior Engineer Superintendent of BSC explained to me in his office on one occasion. He said,” when the money is paid, the Ship would be sold by UAE to Bangladesh for one dollar”.
I served as Chief Engineer of M V Solidarity from April,1981 to November,1982. During this period, the Ship made three trips to Europe and USA. During the last two trips, my family was with me on board. We made two short trips to Kolkata also berthing in Khdirpur (muslim populated area). The Ship had to sail in Hooghly River passing through an old styled lock.
In the first trip, our port of call was Oran (Algeria). We unloaded tea and jute. It is interesting to recall that there were one or two jute factories in Algeria. I don’t know whether these factories still operate, and jute is imported from Bangladesh or not. During the Ship’s stay in Onan, the Bangladeshi Ambassador along with his wife visited the Ship. The Ambassador belonged to the earliest Foreign Office staff of Pakistan. Captain Sethi (Indian) introduced all deck and engine officers to him. A nice dinner was served and very much appreciated by the Ambassador’s wife. I remember that a Bangladeshi family also came on board on this occasion.
Our next port of call was Dundee (Scotland) where we were unloading jute. Regional Representative of BSC, late F T Rahman (E-1) came on board from London. The second day of our port stay was very busy. We had opened one unit of main engine, one pump and one cooler for survey inspection by the Lloyd’s Surveyor. The UAE Government had also sent a surveyor to check how the Ship was run and maintained. This surveyor was very much impressed especially with the cleanliness of Engine Room and wrote a very good report. ( Late Salahuddin, the Senior Engineer Superintendent told me when he came on board in Chittagong, “the UAE surveyor, in his report wrote very high of you”). As mentioned earlier our second day in port was very busy. So, the plan was to assemble the survey items especially the main engine unit next day. F T Rahman said to me that he would be leaving for London next day early morning. To make sure that I should get up early to see him off, I called the Engine Room and said to the watchkeeping engineer,” give me a ring from the Engine Room at 6:30 am sharp.” I asked him if he understood my message clearly. He replied, “yes sir, I shall pass on your message to the next watchkeeper.” I then asked him to write my instructions on the Engine Room notice board also. Next day morning, I myself got up early but waited for phone call from the Engine Room. At 6:30 am, there was no phone call but a knock on my room door. I opened the door and saw the Engine oiler holding in his both hands, one main engine piston ring. It was an interesting joke very much remembered later with interest by the engineering staff of Solidarity.
After Dundee, we called other ports, i.e., Swansea (Wales), Tilbury (London), Rotterdam (Holland), Antwerp (Belgium) and Dunkirk (France). In London, currency notes of Bangladesh (printed in UK) were also loaded on board. The notes were kept in special sealed lockers for safety.
In our second and third trip to Europe and USA, in addition to Jute we carried frog legs also loaded in Chalna. These frog legs were nicely packed and loaded in two fridge chambers in port side of Hold No.3. We maintained temperature of minus 20 degree centigrade in the chambers. I came to know that frog legs were tastier than chicken and considered delicacy in Europe. However, I learned recently from BD mariners that frog legs are no more exported from Bangladesh. Probably these big frogs have become extinct. I remember, we loaded ice cream in our fridge chambers in an American port to be discharged in Karachi. Maintaining a temperature of minus 10 degrees centigrade was enough to keep the ice cream in good condition. The consignees were American Consulate, Karachi.
When I joined MV Solidarity (April 1981) in Chittagong, late Sethi was the Captain. At the end of our first trip, on arrival in Chittagong, he was transferred to a BSC tanker vessel. An Indian Captain joined the Ship but was replaced in USA, by Captain Shamim Siddique (6N) from Pakistan. He joined Solidarity with wife and baby. Mr. Shamim Siddique now lives in Karachi and is in touch with me. In our first trip, in Dundee Mr. Hafeez Bajwa (4N) signed on Solidarity as Chief Officer. Within two /three days his wife also joined him on board. Hafeez Bajwa was from Pakistan but living in UK serving on British ships. He owned a house in London. On arrival Chittagong, Hafeez Bajwa was transferred to another ship. Later on, he was promoted to command BSC Ship Banglar Baani. He now lives in Orlando (USA) and remains in touch with me. Our Radio Officer was Mr. Jawed from Karachi. I could see a good number of Pakistani radio officers in BSC. Mr. Jawed once told me that at one time, about twenty-six Pakistani radio officers were serving on board BSC ships. Captain Mohammed Anam Chowdhury, a prominent mariner of Bangladesh and President of Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officers Association (BMMOA) was, for a long period, Second Officer with me on Solidarity.
In two BD Mariners functions in UK, I met Mr. Mohammad Aslam Shahid (15N). In first instance, I did not recognise him, but he informed that he was cadet with me on Solidarity. At present, he serves as Lecturer in Marine Simulation at Solent University, Southampton. Now a days, Mr. Mohanmmad Aslam is ill and on medical leave from the University. We pray for his speedy recovery.
A very prominent BD Mariner Mr. Ashfaqul Haq (13E) was my 5th Engineer on Solidarity. He was a smart and intelligent Youngman and I promoted him to the rank of 4th Engineer. I met his parents and other family members in Dhaka. In fact, his late father invited me and my family to have dinner at his house. The year was 1982. Mr. Ashfaqul Haq progressed rapidly in his profession and received MSc. degree from World Maritime University, Malmo, Sweden around 1990. At present, he holds the prestigious post of Marine Transportation Head in Suncor Energy (the biggest oil company of Canada). Mr. Ashfaqul Haq in now stationed in Calgary and remains in touch with me.
During my service on M V Solidarity, late Tareck Anis Ahmed Technical Director of BSC. Senior Engineer Superintendent was late Salahuddin Ahmed. When he left BSC to set up his own marine business, late A F Mohammadullah took over as Senior Engineer Superintendent. Other Superintendents were late Abdul Haq (2E), Mohammed Abul Qasim (3E) and C F Zaman (2E). C F Zaman looked after the BSC Workshop also till Mr. Iftikhar Ahmed (3E) took over as Manager. C F Zaman also left BSC and joined German Lloyds. In this Classification Society, C F Zaman made steady progress reaching the top level of Administration. Late Shamsul Alam (3E) was acting as Superintendent (Personnel). He suddenly passed away when Solidarity was in Europe. The time of his death was either the end of 1981 or the beginning of 1982. He was nice gentleman with a pleasant personality. May his soul rest in eternity. From BSC office, Solidarity was managed by Engineer Superintendent Abdul Majeed (3E). He was a nice and sober person. Abdul Majeed later on served with Bangladesh Oxygen on a senior post.
I don’t know in which year the name of Solidarity was changed to Banglar Kiran. Also, I have no knowledge of when the Ship was decommissioned and finally scrapped.
Banglar Kiran (1985)
Mubashir Ahmed Khan | London 30.10.2022
Email: mubashira2050 @gmail.com 
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