Lighter vessel capsizes at Bay
A cement clinker laden lighter vessel capsized at the Bay of Bengal near Bhasanchar area yesterday morning.
All the 13 crewmen were rescued by staff of an oil tanker and a lighter vessel crossing the area during the incident.
A vessel of Abul Khair Group -- Titu-19 -- was on its way to Moktarpur in Munshiganj after loading around 1,250 tonnes of cement clinker imported from a mother vessel at the outer anchorage of Chattogram port.
The vessel capsized partially at the Bay around 3 nautical miles off from Bhasanchar around 11:30am after a crack developed at its bottom due to strong current in the sea, said Mohammad Salim, deputy director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA).
Currently there is cautionary signal-3 and the sea is too rough, Salim said, adding that they earlier asked all the lighter vessels not to ply when signal-3 is hoisted. But some operators did not pay heed, he said.
Nabi Alam, general secretary of Lighter Vessel Workers Association, said eight crewmen of the sinking vessel were rescued by the staff of an oil tanker named Arju while five others were rescued by another lighter vessel named Begum Rokeya.
Comments