Two and a half lakh boats are plying in the river, only 20,000 are registered

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In the first boat census, more than 244,000 motor boats were found in the country. This number is almost 12 times the number of registered vessels.

How many boats are plying on the country’s rivers and waterways every day, even after independence, there was no complete official account of it. However, passengers go, goods go, fishing trawlers, ferries, launches, speedboats, bulkheads and dredgers go through this waterway. Finally, the government has conducted a boat census for the first time.

2 lakh 44 thousand 660 engine-powered boats were found in the country as a preliminary to the listing operation of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics’ boat census 2026. Out of this, 1 lakh 73 thousand 944 wharf-based vessels and 70 thousand 716 vessels listed otherwise. However, the data of some boats in remote areas is still being included in the database, so the number may be slightly less or more, BBS said.

This number alone has brought the old crisis of the shipping sector to the fore. Because, according to the information of the Directorate of Shipping, there were 20 thousand 552 vessels registered in the country till December 2024. That is, the number of motor boats found in the census is about 12 times more than the number of registered boats. This means that for a long time a large number of boats plyed in the country’s rivers, but most of them were practically out of government control.

Focal point officer of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics associated with this census. Arif Hossain told Prothom Alo that this is only a preliminary list of engine-powered boats. The detailed information of these boats including the category (type) of engine-driven boats, engine capacity, information about the manpower employed in the boats, how many boats are running on which route – the detailed census of these will start from August this year. After the completion of that census, the detailed information of motor boats will be available.

The census of BBS was done under the project of Directorate of Shipping. BBS started Nationwide Boat Enrollment Program from 4th to 17th May 2026. They used Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) app for data collection. The GPS location of each wharf is also identified in this census. For this, 1 thousand 293 data collectors worked at the field level. Their work was supervised by census coordinators at upazila, district and divisional levels.

According to sources related to the project, the aim of this census is to create a modern ‘National Ships and Mechanized Boat Database’ by collecting information on sea-going, coastal and inland engine-driven boats of the country. The duration of the project is from January 2025 to 2028, the cost is about Tk 43 crore. According to the official commentary, the census will play an important role in identifying illegal and unfit vessels, reducing accidents and planning in the shipping sector.

About 25 types of boats are available in the boat census. These include cargo, bulkhead, passenger launches, speedboats, trawlers, dredgers, ferries and various types of motorized vessels used at marginal level. This diversity is the reality of Bangladesh’s waterways. Passenger launches, sandbar bulkheads, fishing trawlers, small motorized boats and ferries ply the same river. But not everyone has the same speed, size, driver skills, design and safety standards. So just knowing the number of boats is not enough; What kind of boats are plying where, who has registration, who has fitness, the driver is trained – these information also need to be updated regularly.

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According to the information of the Directorate of Shipping, from 1991 to December 2021, there were 641 accidents on inland waterways. In these accidents, 3 thousand 881 people were killed, 705 people were injured and 505 people were missing. Among the accidents were 252 passenger ships, 180 cargo ships and 209 others.

In recent years, the waterways have not been safe. According to Road Safety Foundation data, 132 boating accidents in the country killed 149 people, injured 123 and left 34 missing in 2025. The organization prepared the report based on information from national dailies, online media, electronic media and its own sources.

Experts say, there is no opportunity to neglect waterways in riverine countries. There are few alternatives to waterways to reduce road pressure, make transportation of goods cost-effective and ensure people connectivity in the coastal-haur-char region. But unsafe waterways cannot be a symbol of development. The first naval census after independence was therefore a great start.

Those concerned say that the census is not just a statistical work; It can be the basis of naval security. Because, for the first time, the government is now realizing how many boats are actually in the river. But if this calculation is only stuck in the database, then the accident will not be reduced. Every boat has to be accompanied by registration, survey, fitness, driver’s license, route permit and safety equipment. Risk based surveillance is required especially in case of bulkheads, dredgers, speedboats and passenger vessels.

Bangladesh University of Engineering (BUET) Accident Research Institute Assistant Professor Md. Imran Uddin told Prothom Alo that despite being a riverine country, Bangladesh is still mainly dependent on roads. Determining the exact number of unregistered vessels and bringing them under registration is a primary and urgent step to make navigation more efficient and safer. According to Prof. Imran, this will have a positive impact on both transportation and security.

Imran Uddin said that there has been no complete naval census in Bangladesh since independence, but an initiative was taken earlier in 2016 but it could not be completed successfully. If the boats are brought under registration, it will be easier to bring them under the law. As a result, it will be possible to carry out regular surveys of the vessels and regular examination and monitoring whether the masters or drivers have proper qualifications, training and certificates or not.