Lighter vessel capsizes at Bay

A lighter vessel carrying 950 tonnes of raw sugar capsized at Bay of Bengal near Bhasanchar yesterday morning.

One of its 12 crew members, identified as Gias Uddin, remained missing while others were rescued by members of other vessels.

Sources at Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) said rescue vessels of Bangladesh Navy were in search of the missing crew member.

The vessel -- MV AL Noor-1 -- after loading the imported raw sugar from a mother vessel at the outer anchorage of Chattogram port was heading for Narsingdi, said BIWTA Deputy Director Mohammad Salim.

It started sinking around six nautical miles from Bhasanchar around 9:30am when water entered its engine room after a crack developed at the bottom from strong water currents. Staff of lighter vessels MV Akij Logistics-27 and MV Success-33 rushed to the ship and managed to rescue 11 crewmen.

Tajul Islam, master of MV Akij Logistics-27, told The Daily Star that they rushed there upon hearing a radio message from the sinking vessel. They were able to rescue the crewmen after three hours of effort in the rough water, he added.