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Procedia Engineering 194 (2017) 5 – 11

10th International Conference on Marine Technology, MARTEC 2016

Our Oceans and the Blue Economy: Opportunities and Challenges
Abdullahel Bari, Ph D, C Eng, FIEB, FRINA*
Chairman, Ananda Group, City Heart Complex, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract
The Blue Economy is regarded as the decoupling of socio-economic activities and development from environmental degradation
and optimizing the benefits which may be derived from marine resources. The attitude of achieving long-term prosperity by a
country or a region befitting the wellbeing of all citizens and the mankind preserving the environment, especially the sea is the
basis of the Blue Economy. Blue Economy means the use of sea and the use of its resources for sustainable economic
development and the concept is new in Bangladesh and South Asia. This paper is a compilation of researches already carried out
in the region by extracting the data and works which are available somehow related to the topic and relevant to thoughts and
activities in this region. The paper cites a few highlights on how the Blue Economy Concept fits into the sustainability
development framework while balancing its economic, social and environmental benefits and how does it contribute in
GDP. The paper aims at generating thoughts and actions towards investigating various opportunities of the Blue Economy, ways
of cashing the benefits as well as identifying challenges and ways of overcoming them.
The paper concludes that Bangladesh as well the South Asia have potentials to follow the Blue Economy Concept. However
it requires strong political willingness and commitments, which already have been demonstrated in Bangladesh. It needs rigorous
researches and promoting social awareness.
Keywords: Blue Economy, Coastal Tourism, Maritime Transportation

1. Background
Life originated in oceans which constitute more than 95% of biosphere. The ocean without caring what we do towards its wellbeing, it
continues to support all lives by generating oxygen, absorbing carbon dioxide, recycling nutrients and regulating global climate & temperature. It
provides a substantial portion of the global population with food and livelihood and is the means of transportation for 80% of global trade. The
marine and coastal fronts bestow a key resource to the tourism industry; provide all elements for tourism development of the familiar concept of
“sun, sand and sea” and help the diverse and expanding domain of nature-based tourism [1].
The seabed provides 32% of the global supply of hydrocarbons and exploration is extending towards deep sea. Technological advancements
are opening new frontiers of marine resource developments ranging from bio-prospecting to the mining of seabed minerals. The sea also offers
vast potential for production of renewable “blue energy” from wind, wave, tide as well as from thermal and biomass sources [2].
The importance of oceans for sustainable development has been recognized from the beginning of the UNCED process, Agenda 21, the
Johannesburg Plan, implementation and reaffirmation of which has been documented in the Rio+20 Conference. Ongoing trends of exploitation
and therefore the degradation of marine and coastal ecosystems show that endeavors to date to ensure sustainable developments have been
insufficient [2]. Through this conference we like to voice to the world the crying need of preserving our sea and loving it deeper than our beloved.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +880-2-9331510; fax: +880-2-8312681

E-mail address: abdullahel.bari@anandagroup.biz

1877-7058 © 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 10th International Conference on Marine Technology.
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2017.08.109
6 Abdullahel Bari / Procedia Engineering 194 (2017) 5 – 11

In Bangladesh, the blue economic activities started when a verdict on our maritime boundary came into force through the verdict of the
Arbitral Tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the “Convention”) in the matter of the
Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary Arbitration [3]. This has created a distinct scope and need of the day to prepare a short and long term plan for
use and exploration of our legitimate part of the sea, all in the form and pattern of sustainable development without harming but deeply loving
her. The Government of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh organized an International Workshop on Blue Economy during 1-2 September,
2014 which recognized our concern of the sea and our earnestness for adopting the Blue Economy. Oncept.
UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2012, defined Blue Economy as ocean economy that
aims at the “improvement of human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. The
outcome of the conference titled the “Future We Want” highlights ocean’s contribution to growth, stating; “We stress the importance of the
conservation and sustainable use of the oceans and seas and of their resources for sustainable development” [ ]. Efficiency and optimization of
use of natural marine resources within ecological limits are other aspects of Blue Economy (UNCTAD, 2014).

2. Millennium Development Goals and the Blue Economy

The Government of Bangladesh has set 17 Millennium Development Goals [5] for the next 15 years which are called Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG) where Goal 1, Goal 2, Goal 9, Goal 14 and Goal 17 have direct relationship with the development of shipbuilding and
"Blue economy".

2.1 GDP in South Asia

According to 2015 World Bank statistics (Fig. 1) , South Asian countries have lower GDP per capita compare to global average and
Bangladesh has slightly higher GDP value than that of Afghanistan. However, the region is changing from low-income to middle-income
level [6]. The region has large population of poorer people and as a result despite a number of initiatives have been taken by the government, the
progress on poverty reduction is limited in terms of GDP per capita. Maldives and Sri Lanka have higher GDPs in the region (Figure 1) as both
these countries have introduced strategic changes in their development plan.

3. Blue Economy Potentials and opportunities in the Region

South Asian countries are blessed with the Bay of Bengal, the largest Bay in the world bordered by Bangladesh to the North, India to the
west, North West and East, Myanmar in the East, Sri Lanka to the southwest and Indonesia to southeast. It has enormous potentials for the Blue
Economy.
The coastal states have every right to explore and use resources in their maritime boundaries. Fig 2 shows the comparison of Land and
Maritime area of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Maldives. The Blue Economy is getting its reputation throughout the world, and
spreading from the Pacific SIDS to even the Southern African region. It is also gaining momentum in this region. In Bangladesh the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs organized an International Workshop on Blue Economy during September 1-2, 2014. A number of research and themes were
presented including the ocean resources and sustainable development proposals promising new sectors of ocean energy and blue biotechnology,
access to ocean resources etc. The outcomes of the workshop have been compiled for strategic planning. The second workshop is planned for
November 2017. Island countries with better sea - land ratios have more opportunities to benefit from the sea as well as bigger responsibilities
towards her. These countries like Maldives and Sri Lanka also showing higher GDP volume and growth rate compared to other similar countries
in the region with lower sea-land rations do not essentially means that Blue Economy is being implemented according to the planned frame work.

Figure 1: Comparison of GDP per capita for South Asian Countries (Source: World Bank)
 Abdullahel Bari / Procedia Engineering 194 (2017) 5 – 11 7

Figure 2: Maritime zones Area of South Asian countries. [3, 16, 17]
Apart from economic emancipation, other important elements of the Blue Economy Concept are social integrations, upholding humanity, efforts
of attaining gender equality and preservation of the sea. In addition, exploration of sea minarets, energy, exploration of biodiversity resources and
more importantly use of innovation for attaining higher output/input ratios, especially in case of using and utilizing natural resources, are not
observed. Bangladesh is a coastal state, a signatory to UNCLOS, and bestowed with favorable sea- land ratio than that of India and Pakistan. It
has sovereign rights to explore and use non- living and living sea resource (UNCLOS). However, the Concept is only recently being vigorously
pursued.

3.1 Fisheries and Aquaculture

Fish and fisheries products make enormous contribution to the life of people in the region. The fisheries catches in South Asian region
increases by 5 to 8%.. In South Asia majority of productions are from Bay of Bengal. India is catching about 50% of fish (1.2 Million
Tonnes/Yr) and Myanmar (1.1 Million Tonnes/Year). Compared to India and Myanmar Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives catch fish 0.6
million tonnes/Year, 0.12 Million Tonnes/Year and 00.16 Million Tonnes/Year respectively. It is seen from Fig.-3 that aquaculture and fish
catches are quite substantial in case of India and Bangladesh. Sri Lanka and Maldives having greater maritime areas, shown in Fig.-3, are with
inadequate efforts of exploration of these resources.

Figure 3: Comparison of Aquaculture and Fishing in South Asian countries [4]

To maintain the quality, processing and preservation of catches are to be done timely and in an appropriate manner. Proper processing and
preservation can improve quality of supply, therefore increase sale proceeds resulting in higher GDPs. These can be achieved by deploying
factory ships, a Floating Fish Processor, in the sea. It may accommodate factory shops fitted with a wide variety of seafood processing
equipment, work force living quarters, offices, emergency medical facilities, fresh water makers, communication stations, fishing vessel supplies
and storage facilities. They have the advantage of mobility over their land based counterparts and are able to move even to seasonal fishing
grounds. A factory ship thus offers catching over a wider fishing ground because of reduction on traveling time of trawlers and catchers by
making consumables available at the door, flexibility in marketing by channeling catches according to market demand and providing a better
home for all on the sea. It is a shelter in calamities. Factory ships are being used by many countries usually for whale fishing and others.
8 Abdullahel Bari / Procedia Engineering 194 (2017) 5 – 11

Bangladesh and other South Asian countries may deploy factory ships and sooner it is done is better. Production capacity and quality of
processing and preservation will be enhanced in turn ensuring quality supply to the customers. Ultimately market share will increase, better
prices will be fetched and contribution to the GDP will be more.

3.2 Maritime Transportation and sea borne trade

Shipping is the cheapest mode of transport, which carries 80% of the global merchandise trade in volume and in 2015, transported 10
billion tons for the first time (UNCTAD). UNCTAD expects world gross domestic products to decline further. However, merchandise trade
volume remain steady and as a result shipping becomes more important means of transport for the South Asian countries as these regions are
becoming popular in merchandise products particularly Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. This is the area where Bangladesh can play a great role
and can get distinct benefits offered by the Blue Ocean.
South Asian countries are well linked with the global world and their economies growing rapidly. The Liner Shipping Indexes of the
South Asian countries show an increasing trend and this is because of the increasing trade volume. However, from Fig. 4, it is seen that for
Bangladesh and Maldives, Liner Shipping Connectivity Indexes are lower compared to that of other neighbor countries. The higher the LSCI
lower the cost of shipping and Bangladesh should take benefit from marine transportation by taking steps to increase the Liner Shipping
Connectivity Index.
From Figure 5, it is seen that Bangladesh has the least number of registered Ocean going ships which indicates the poorest fleet of the
country compared to that of other countries like Malaysia, India, Singapore and China.

Figure 4: Comparison of Liner Shipping Index (Source: World Bank)

Figure 5: Comparison of Number of Registered ships [Source: Mercantile Marine Department, Bangladesh and Ref. [8]
 Abdullahel Bari / Procedia Engineering 194 (2017) 5 – 11 9

3.3 Ship Breaking Industry

Scrapping of old unusable ships is a must for the sea borne trade to continue for the foreseeable period, so also for the continual
emancipation for the entire international community. Shipping is the bridge for wider world civilization. Older inefficient ships are detrimental to
the sea and to the environment and in conflict with the concept of the Blue Economy. However, the present style and method of scrapping,
especially as they are, for example, in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, polluting the sea and the environment, and exploiting poor laborers are
severely criticized by all concerned of the sea and the environment. On the other hand, for example, in these countries, especially in Bangladesh
the scrapping is proving jobs and steel. Ship breaking is the mail source of steel and iron materials to the growing industries and infrastructure of
the country, which is the 2nd largest breaker, having no iron ore mines and base processing steel mills. Ship breaking is unavoidable for the
international community and essential for a few countries. Named in the above.
Therefore a method must be adopted which may turn scrapping to a green industry. Implementation of The Hong Kong International
Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships [10]. is the answer. The highest benefit from Shipping is drived by
developed nations. They have therefore a major role, rather the vital role, to play. To turn scrapping 100% green without exploiting the workers
it is indeed necessary to take necessary steps, such as, building up of funds for scrapping from income of the ship over her operational life. When
scrapping is green, scrapping is one of the best fitted industry to the Blue Economy. It saves a very essential depleting natural resource. It creates
ways for new more efficient to enter. When green it is not degrading sea nor the environment.

Figure 6: Comparison of scrapped ships: Numbers and Gross tonnage [11]

3.4 Coastal Tourism

South Asia’s five coastal countries (Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) account for less than 2 percent of the
world’s total coastline. The coastal zones also contain about 40 percent of the economic activities in the region and most of its critical economic
infrastructure. South Asia’s coastal regions are extraordinarily rich in ecological diversity. Coastal tourism is expanding in the region as more
than 8% of the world’s mangrove areas are in South Asia. The Sundarban delta is the world’s largest continuous stretch of mangroves. These—as
well as the coral reefs of the Maldives, India, and Sri Lanka, and the dry land mangroves of Pakistan support thousands of floral and faunal
species. (South Asia Region, World Bank). Tourists to the region are attracted for its climates, biodiversity, clear water and long sandy beaches.
However, the tourism economy in the region is not as good as developed country except Maldives and India (Fig. 7).
10 Abdullahel Bari / Procedia Engineering 194 (2017) 5 – 11

Figure 7: International Arrivals (Source: World Bank)

From figure 7, it is also observed that India received the highest number and Bangladesh received the least number of foreign tourists in
2014. By introducing beach-based recreation and tourism, tourist activities in proximity to the sea, and nautical boating including yachting,
marinas and cruise tourism these countries may increase their tourism income in foods.In some countries the contribution of tourism to GDP is
about 6-7% [12]. Bangladesh in its framed Global Development Strategies (GDS) has included tourism as a top priority activity.

3.5 Marine-Based Energy

Once coal consumption had been the measure of economic development, thereafter consumption of steel followed by per capita
energy consumption. Energy is truly the mother of all economic development. Supremacy for controlling the sources of energy so far has
influenced the world’s geopolitics and therefore suffering of humanity, human basic living and social integration. Present worldwide average per
capita energy consumption is very low and that is even lower in least develop and developing countries. The energy consumption of the world
will grow fast if we wish to eradicate poverty and offer human being a decent living etc, On the other hand the prices of energy are nearly
unaffordable.
The high price of the energy to a great extent is due to the dependency on the depleting natural hydro energy resources. Alternative
source of energy, especially renewable, is the cry of the day. The Blue Economy Concept, among others, has brought forward the sea as the
source of enormous quantum of energy. Example of quantities are 88 trillion Wh/day and 2000 trillion Wh /year extractable energy from the sea
water mass by using the temperature gradient and waves respectively [14]. There are many more types, i.e wind energy, chemical energy etc. We
in South Asian region have insignificant reserves of oil and gas (Fig. 8 and Fig. 9) but this fact alone should not retard the development in this
region having now the Blue Economy Concept on the table to be adopted and followed by us and the whole international community may support
us with innovative cost effective technology for harnessing energy from the sea.

Figure 8: Offshore Oil Reserve [7] Figure 9: Offshore Gas reserve [7]

3.6 Deep sea minerals

70 or more minerals may be extracted from the deep sea water mass. Deep Sea is the 2nd layer of water mass of the sea extending from
250m up to a depth of 1500m which is the most vital part for mineral extractions. Following are the most important elements which to be noted
and explored. Sea-floor massive sulphide deposits – containing localized concentrations of copper, lead, and zinc, with significant amounts of
gold and silver and manganese nodules and cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts containing notable concentrations of nickel, copper and cobalt,
coupled with significant concentrations of rare-earth and other rare metals. [15]
Many other minerals are available and extractable, however, that is dependent on the development of innovative cost effective technology.
Some of those minerals are described below. Sea-floor massive sulphide (SMS) form on or below the seabed. Mineralized seawater flows out of
hydrothermal vents due the pressure difference at the tip and underneath and forms sulphide. In very deep parts of the ocean – depths of 4000 to
6000m - Manganese nodules are found. Cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts are found up to the depth of 7000m on underwater elevated surfaces.

4. Importance of Estimating the Economical and Environmental Value of Oceans

In the South Asian region, particularly in Bangladesh, there is no published data on economic and social values of the ocean-based
industries or any assessment yet on the possibilities, prospect or type of industries and activities which can be undertaken in line with the concept
of Blue Economy. Towards poverty eviction a lot of thoughts and consideration have been given to quite a few aspects of the agriculture sector.
Databases and information are available. Regarding marine industries, except for capture of fisheries and aquaculture, needed economic data are
lacking or they are merged with other sectors (Fisheries and agricultural sector data are usually merged). Ocean industry related environmental
data, such as industry-wise greenhouse gas emissions, fuel or other types of pollutions, related wastage disposal of a specific industry, rate of
coastal erosion, effect on coastal water quality and diversity indices of coastal habitats are rare. Lack of available data restricts predictions of
 Abdullahel Bari / Procedia Engineering 194 (2017) 5 – 11 11

performances of envisaged industries which in turn complicates the policy integration. The vast ocean may provide us nearly unlimited space and
scope for our elevated livelihood and help us to eradicate poverty only if we may find out befitting activities and industries which in no way will
cause sustaining damages to the sea and environment.

5. Conclusion and recommendations

The scope for business activities including industrial on and around the sea are enormous, South Asia is no exception. Aquaculture,
fisheries, minerals extraction, transportation and tourism are some of the long known business endeavors on and around the sea. We recommend
that all endeavors, small or large, on and around the sea will be in line and following the Blue Economy Concept. Three other very large
economic activities are - shipbuilding, shipping and ship scrapping which can be fitting in the concept very well. Shipbuilding has the highest
human input and no discharge, either gaseous or liquid. It is environmental friendly and befitting in a Blue Economy. When compared on ton-Km
or man- Km basis shipping is the champion among mechanized modes of transportation in terms of pollution and cost. Scrapping of ships, a
recycling process contributing directly in national development at the same time saving the natural source of a highly demanded base metal, may
well be carried out according to the Blue Economy Concept. In a nut shell, the potentials are boundless -water helps lives to grow and supports
sustainable living.
The study concludes that South Asia particularly Bangladesh has potentials and scope for implementing the Blue Economy but strong
political commitments, plenty of researches, societal awareness and attitude to optimize the dependency are required to achieve long-term
sustainable prosperity. Let us today declare ourselves as the champion of the Blue Economy Concept and let the Concept be the champion as
well.

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