4 vessels sink in Ctg, Hatiya channel

Four lighter vessels capsized and two crew members of a ship went missing in separate incidents over a span of four hours yesterday in the outer anchorage of Chittagong Port and the Sandwip and Hatiya channels of the Bay of Bengal.

The two missing individuals -- Arif, 22, and Sohag, 23 -- were among a fourteen-member crew on board MV Glorious Sreenagar that capsized in the Bhashanchar area of the Hatiya channel.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

Shafiqul Alam, master of the vessel, said his ship, carrying 1,500 tonnes of corn, was anchored due to dense fog at the time of the incident. It tilted to one side before capsizing as another lighter vessel named MV Titu hit it and sped away.

A navy ship rescued Shafiq and another staff member an hour after all the crew members jumped into the sea. Ten others managed to swim ashore while two of them remain missing, Shafiq added.

In the second incident, lighter vessel MV Labs-1 sank near the outer anchorage of the Chittagong Port with a cargo of 1,050 tonnes of cement clinker. 

Lt Commander Omar Faruq, commanding officer of Bangladesh Coast Guard ship CGS Towhid, said all the 13 crewmen of the distressed vessel were rescued by the coast guard.

The MV Labs-1 crew members claimed that their ship was hit by another vessel before it started to sink, he added. 

The third shipwreck occurred near Patenga sea beach where lighter vessel MV Majnu sank with 1800 tonnes of rock phosphate for a fertilizer factory. 

Iqbal Hossain, master of the vessel, said after noticing water gushing into the vessel, he steered it toward the Patenga beach in an effort to run aground. All its staffers, 14 in total, managed to board small boats nearby.  

The fourth incident took place in Sandwip channel as lighter vessel MV Darin Darsab, loaded with 2,200 tonnes of raw sugar, capsized after striking a submerged shoal (char) near Char Nurul Islam.

Members of the crew were rescued by a lighter vessel passing by.