In a cavernous hangar, an imam recites a short prayer as workers gather round. When he has finished, managers wearing white overalls and hardhats mount the platform, pick up wooden mallets and strike an aluminium keel. The noise ricochets around Western Marine Shipyards, one of Bangladesh’s leading shipyards, as everyone applauds. The keel is the foundation and spine of any ship, and this short keel-laying ceremony marks the start of work on the shipyard’s latest order. Work also recommences on the 13 other ships, fishing trawlers and ferries in various stages of construction at the yard.