Three Mongla Port guards suspended for theft of ship machinery

The abandoned vessel MV Ardeal, which has been lying at the port's outer anchorage, also developed cracks in the hull due to removal of the machinery, but was somehow prevented from sinking, an MPA official said.

Guards Nazrul Islam, Manu Mia, Amanat Molla, Bellal Hossain and Shahadat Hossain allegedly sold the machine parts after taking them apart from the engine room, said the official without specifying which three were suspended.

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On April 1, 1999, the Rumanian flag vessel reached Mongla Port with a consignment of imported Indian rice, but the unloading operation was suspended after the Food Department declared two-thirds of the rice unfit for human consumption.

MV Ardeal, whose crew left the country after the vessel was declared abandoned in December, 2000, legally became the property of Mongla Port Authority.