Remove navy installation from Patenga channel

A probe body has submitted its report to the Chairman, Chittagong Port Authority, blaming the Panamanian ship directly, and the Bangladesh ship indirectly, for the accident. The probe body also recommended the removal of navy installation from the channel.

The channel is the Patenga Channel that connects the Karnafuli with the Bay of Bengal. The Karnafuli enters Chittagong creating a large curve at the Patenga seashore. From Patenga, the south bank of the Karnafuli looks to be miles away, and the open sea westward provides one of world's best scenic sights. But, not any more, because the boundary wall of the naval academy cruelly rounds off the beautiful tip of the coast, preventing common people from standing there and enjoying the sunset.

This endless mass of water, however, seems to be of the most violent nature as the incoming currents from the sea and the outgoing currents from the river are in conflict with each other. The waterway therefore is dangerous for the harbouring vessels, and should be negotiated cautiously.

But as the vehicles on the roads prefer to ignore the traffic rules, so do the ships on the water. As the September 21 accident has been probed into, it looks like the Panamanian cargo ship, the Eagle Strength, had rammed into an Bangladesh HRC ship, Banga Biraj, as it wanted to avoid demolishing a small ship which was in its way.

Though the probe body has failed to trace that unknown small vessel, it is clear that the river mouth does not provide enough space for big ships to maneuver. In fact, even to the plain eye, the Patenga Channel looks to be dotted with far too many stationery vessels that have caused a traffic jam.

The probe body has also recommended that the navy ships be shifted to a more comfortable corner of the Channel. This point needs to be reckoned with.

Chittagong Port is a very busy harbour for commerce and trade. But the naval establishments are just located there, thus the mutual interference in each other's business has perhaps gone to an intolerable degree. It may be a practical idea to shift the naval base altogether to further south down the coast of Anwara.

Otherwise, it makes no sense why 18 very costly ships of BN should be damaged when two cargo ships had met with an accident. There must have been very close proximity between the BNS Flotilla position and the cargo jetty.

In the 1991 cyclone many naval vessels were destroyed as large cargo ships from outer anchorage dashed into the wharf by the force of the wind, and hit the naval base. That destruction at least had an explanation.

But, this loss seems to be a result of ill planning. And, ill planning seems to be the thing destroying our country in every way.