Shut cargo vessel route

Investigators said the cargo master was responsible for the sinking of the coal-carrying vessel in the Shela river inside the Sundarbans.

They recommended stopping operation of vessels through the Sundarbans waterways to avoid causing further damage to the mangrove forest.

The three-member probe committee, comprising officials of the Department of Forest, submitted its report to Divisional Forest Officer Saidul Islam yesterday.

“If the operation of vessels continues through the Sundarbans, this sort of accident might recur. So the probe committee recommended shutting the route for vessel operation,” Saidul told The Daily Star.

MV GR Raj, on its way to Jessore with 510 tonnes of coal, sank in the Shela river, a sanctuary for globally endangered dolphins in the Sundarbans, on October 27.

The committee, led by Belayet Hossain, assistant conservator of forest in Chandpai range of East Sundarbans, was formed on Wednesday. Gazi Abdul Mannan and Gazi Matiur Rahman were the other members of the committee.

It noted that cargo vessel Raj was “old and unfit” and incapable of carrying a 510-tonne load. It also identified incompetency and negligence on the part of the vessel's cargo master as the cause of sinking.

Though the master noticed a crack developing at the bottom of the cargo, he did not take any cautionary measures, the committee said.

Saidul said the probe committee recommended that the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and Mongla Port authorities should regularly check fitness certificate of vessels plying the international route through the Pasur river.

The forest department filed a case with Mongla Police Station against the vessel owner and the master, seeking Tk one crore as compensation for the damages to the ecosystem of the mangrove forest, the home to endangered Bengal tigers.

Police arrested the vessel's master Bulu Kazi.

The department also ordered Dil Khan, owner of the cargo vessel, to start salvaging the sunken cargo immediately.

Dil Khan told journalists that he had been negotiating with multiple private agencies for salvaging the cargo.

On December 9 last year, an oil tanker carrying 3.58 lakh litres of furnace oil sank in the Shela river, taking heavy toll on the forest environment.

A joint UN-Bangladesh team of experts that visited the Sundarbans after the oil spill recommended limiting commercial traffic through the Shela river.

However, the government reopened the route for commercial traffic in January this year, ignoring the experts' recommendation.