Vessels detached after 48 hours

The two vessels that remained stuck following Friday’s head-on collision in Chattogram Port channel were detached yesterday after 48 hours of frantic efforts.

A team of the port’s marine department finally managed to separate the ships at 8:30am, said Captain Faridul Alam, deputy conservator of Chattogram Port Authority.

The accident occurred around 8:24am on Friday when an empty oil tanker, MT Burgan, was sailing off the port and container vessel Express Mahananda was coming from the opposite direction.

Another vessel, Shakti Sanchar, was also leaving the port at the time without prior information. The container vessel ended up ramming the tanker head-on, while trying to leave space for Shakti Sanchar to pass.

Front portions of both the vessels got stuck following the accident. Failing to separate them immediately, the ships were moved to the dry dock jetty to clear the channel for vessel movement, said Captain Alam.

They had to follow several procedures, including draining out and refilling water from the ships’ ballast tanks, he said. Four CPA pilots were engaged round the clock to do the job.

The container ship is now berthed at Jetty 11 for unloading, while the oil tanker is kept at Dolphin Jetty 7.