Vice Admiral Mohammad Shaheen Iqbal takes over charge of Bangladesh Navy

CNI Desk: Vice Admiral Mohammad Shaheen Iqbal took over the command of Bangladesh Navy from the outgoing navy chief Admiral Abu Mozaffar Mohiuddin Mohammad Aurangzeb Chowdhury on Saturday.

The charge taking ceremony was held at Naval Headquarters, said an Inter Service Public Relation press release.

Vice Admiral Mohammad Shaheen Iqbal signed the book at the office of the chief of Naval Staff.

All area commanders of the Navy and senior Naval officers were present at the ceremony.

Mohammad Shaheen Iqbal joined Bangladesh Navy as an officer cadet in 1980. He worked his way through Bangladesh Naval Academy and was commissioned in Executive Branch on December 01, 1982.

During his service career, Rear Admiral Shaheen attended various courses at home and abroad.

He did his specialisation on ‘Anti-Submarine Warfare’ from India. He successfully completed ‘Officers’ Weapon Course’ in SI&T, Sylhet and ‘International Surface Warfare Course’ in USA. He is a graduate of ‘Naval Staff College’ in USA.

Admiral Shaheen Iqbal also completed ‘Armed Forces War Course’ (AFWC) in 2005 and ‘National Defence Course’ (NDC) in 2010 respectively from National Defence College, Mirpur, Dhaka.

He successfully finished ‘Combined Force Maritime Component Commander Flag Officers Course’ (CFMCC) at Hawaii in USA in 2015. He received commendation from the Chief of Naval Staff for outstanding performance in professional courses.

 

In his long naval career, Shaheen Iqbal commanded various types of Naval Ships like - Frigate, Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV), Large Patrol Craft (LPC) and Fast Attack Craft (FAC).

He successfully commanded two important shore establishments of Bangladesh Navy - BNS Titumir and School of Maritime Warfare and Tactics (SMWT).

The officer served National Security Intelligence (NSI) as its director from 26 January 2011 to 06 February 2013.

Vice Admiral Shaheen Iqbal assumed the duties of Commodore Commanding Khulna (COMKHUL) on 07 February 2013 and completed his tenure with utmost success on 19 January 2015.

During his service, Rear Admiral Shaheen Iqbal was appointed to many staff appointments. He served as the Director of Naval Intelligence, Director of Naval Operations and Staff Officer Intelligence at Naval Headquarters.

He also served as Staff Officer Operations of Commodore Commanding BN Flotilla. Rear Admiral Shaheen Iqbal was a proud ‘Blue Flag’ bearer as a member of UN Guard Contingent in Iraq from 15 November 1997 to 09 February 1999.

The veteran Navy officer attended a number of international seminars like ‘Senior Executive Seminar in Nesa Center For Strategic Studies’ held in USA. As a member of Bangladeshi delegation team, he also attended the oral hearing in connection with “Arbitration between Bangladesh and India” at the PCA, Hague, Netherlands.

Besides, he headed a high-level delegation to Turkey in 2014 and attended ‘1st Naval Staff Talks’ between Turkish Navy and Bangladesh Navy under the ‘Implementation Plan 2014’.

Vice  Admiral Shaheen Iqbal is a widely travelled person, who visited USA, UK, France, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Hong Kong, China, Nepal and Australia.

Shaheen Iqbal is married to Monira Rowshan Iqbal who serves as a teacher. Their only son Muntasir Mamun Iqbal is presently serving as a lecturer in the Department of Economics at North South University, Dhaka.

The new Navy chief is fond of travelling, gardening and reading books.

He is also a keen lover of music and enjoys Golf and Tennis.