Shipbuilders have been granted another two and a half months or so to reschedule their defaulted loans through a 2.5 per cent down payment, according to a Bangladesh Bank (BB) notice yesterday. 

Bangladesh emerged as a shipbuilding nation in 2008 when it exported its first ocean-going vessel to a Danish company and suddenly there were talks about the sector’s immense potential and the country capturing a major share of the global shipbuilding market.