Photo shows a cruise ship built in France, not in Bangladesh

"33-storey ship built in Bangladesh. On the other hand, Pakistan does not have money to buy onion, ginger and wheat. Those who call the creation of Bangladesh a tragedy, correct it in your textbooks," reads the Urdu-language claim shared here on Facebook on December 10, 2022.

The claim was shared alongside a photo that shows a cruise ship berthed at a port.

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Screenshot taken on March 15, 2023, of the false Facebook post.

The post circulated online in the midst of Pakistan's months-long economic turmoil.

Bangladesh attained independence from Pakistan in 1971 and the two South Asian countries have a lengthy history of animosity.

As of April 6, 2023, there were more than 100 shipbuilders and over 120 registered shipyards in Bangladesh, mainly catering to the domestic market.

The same photo has been published alongside a similar claim on Facebook here, here and here; and on Twitter here, here and here.

Comments on the posts suggested that some users were misled by the claim.

"Well done Bangladesh," said one user.

"Look how much Bangladesh has progressed," wrote another.

But the posts are false -- the ship was built in France.

Ziaul Islam, a chief engineer at the state-owned Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation, told AFP the South Asian country had no facility to build a cruise ship like the one pictured.

"We are not building any such ship right now. It's not possible to build such a big ship inside Bangladesh yet," he said.

Made in France

A reverse image search on Google found the corresponding photo published here on Instagram on April 15, 2019.

The photo's caption reads: "Yokohama Night View / Celebrity Millennium".

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo seen in the false posts (left) and the Instagram post (right):

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Screenshots comparison of the photo seen in the false posts (left) and the Instagram post (right). ( AFP)

Celebrity Millennium is a cruise ship built by a Saint-Nazaire-based French shipbuilder Chantiers de l'Atlantique. It is operated by Celebrity Cruises.

News coverage of the same cruise ship order can be seen here and here.

Below are screenshot comparisons of the photo seen in the false posts and the photo of Celebrity Millennium published by Celebrity Cruises.

AFP has magnified the part of the ship where its name is partly visible:

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Screenshot comparisons between the photo seen in the false posts (left) and the photo of Celebrity Millennium (right).