Shipping Minister Akbar Hossain sought the assistance when Japanese Ambassador in Dhaka Matsushiro Horiguchi met him at the secretariat yesterday.

The government has asked for the help, as it wants to increase the capacity of Chittagong Dry Dock with foreign investment, the shipping minister told The Daily Star after the meeting.

If a suitable foreign investor approaches a joint venture company could be formed in collaboration with Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) for building ocean-going ships at the Chittagong Dry Dock, the minister added.

The Japanese ambassador assured the minister of informing potential Japanese private sector shipping companies about the Bangladesh government's eagerness to develop the ship building industry, meeting sources said.

The sources also said the CPA is ready to buy the Chittagong Dry Dock from the Ministry of Industries. Now, the dry dock can only repair 20,000-ton capacity ocean- going ships.

According to the sources, the Japanese envoy also wanted to know about the existing condition at the Chittagong Sea Port and appreciated the government's move to increase its capacity by installing new equipment.

The government has floated international tender for buying a number of gantry cranes to increase the existing container handling capacity. More than five lakh TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) of containers are now being handled in the port annually.