Vessel abandoned off Myanmar leaves 15 importers in limbo
Over a month has passed but 15 Bangladeshi importers are yet to know the fate of a vessel, which was transporting around 11,000 tonnes of their steel products and abandoned by its crew for "water ingress and sinking" off the coast of Myanmar.
Panama flagged general cargo vessel Tan Binh 127 was abandoned for flooding about 90 nautical miles from Zar Dat Gyi Island on August 1, said the Department of Marine Administration of Myanmar in an August 3 notice.
All 18 crew members were safely rescued by a passing vessel, MCC Chittagong.
The notice advised vessels in the vicinity to keep a sharp lookout and navigate with extreme caution keeping a wide berth.
Mariners who sighted the vessel were requested to notify the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, Myanmar.
Woohyun Shipping Company of South Korea, which owns and operates the 130-metre-long ship, has not given any official declaration about its current status.
The importers demand an official declaration, which was required if any insurance was to be claimed.
The vessel was travelling from Vietnam to Chattogram via Singapore.
According to Greece-based MarineTraffic, which provides real-time information on the movement and location of ships, Tan Binh 127 left Ho Chi Minh on July 25 and it was at Malacca Strait as of July 31.
According to an August 11 post of online portal FleetMon, the vessel issued a distress signal reporting water ingress and sinking on August 1 in Andaman Sea, some 150 nautical miles off Phuket Island, Thailand.
MCC Chittagong, which was en route from Chattogram to Port Klang, Malaysia, handed over the rescued crew, comprising 13 Vietnamese and 5 Indian nationals, to the Vietnamese coast guard at Cat Lai port, Ho Chi Minh on August 8.
Of the cargo, 700 tonnes of steel coil were imported by Narsingdi-based Nirob Manufacturing Corporation from a Korean supplier, World Steel.
The firm's proprietor, Kamrul Islam Billal, told The Daily Star yesterday that papers provided by the shipping company to Chittagong Customs House state the vessel was scheduled to reach the Chattogram port on August 4.
But the vessel did not reach the port, he said.
"The local shipping agent of the vessel has not provided us any concrete information about the ship's fate till date. They are giving different information at different times creating confusing," Billal said.
The ship's local agent first informed that the ship's engine had been damaged and it was being towed to a nearby port, he said.
Later they came to know that the vessel had sunk but the ship's local agent did not give any official declaration regarding this, he added.
The importer said he apprehended incurring a huge financial loss, since the market value of his goods were around Tk 14 crore.
Keraniganj-based Tanmoy Metal Industries had 519 tonnes of steel coil on the vessel.
Ratan Kumar Bonik, managing director of the firm, said they were even unable to claim insurance as there was no official declaration that the ship had sunk.
Amir Hossain, senior vice president of the Bangladesh Iron and Steel Importers Association, said the businesses had already been suffering from losses for the pandemic and now this incident has worsened their condition.
Asked whether the ship has sunk or not, Motiul Islam, senior operation officer of the ship's local agent, Hoque and Sons Shipping, said the ship's owning company had not provided any information regarding its fate in email correspondence.
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