Lighter vessel damaged after hitting boulders

MV Khatun-1 lies stranded after running aground on hitting boulders of an embankment near the mouth of Karnaphuli river at Chittagong early yesterday. Workers, inset, unload fertiliser that the lighter vessel was carrying as a crack developed during the collision, causing water to rush into the vesselPhoto: STAR

A lighter vessel loaded with fertilisers was damaged as it hit boulders used for embankment near the mouth of the Karnaphuli river early yesterday.
According to Chittagong Port Radio Control, the vessel, MV Khatun-1, was headed to Nagarkandaghat in Dhaka.
The vessel hit the boulders and later it got stuck in an underwater char (shoal) near the Naval Academy.
Water has been getting into the vessel through a crack and damaging the fertilisers inside, it added.
Witnesses, when the report was filed at 7:00pm yesterday, said the vessel might sink during the high tide at night.
Syed Farhad Uddin Ahmed, secretary at Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), said the char is marked with red buoys to help vessels avoid the area but since there was dense fog in the morning the lighter vessel's crew might not have noticed the flags.
He said they were trying to contact the owner so that they could try and salvage the fertilisers.
Chittagong port channel's movement, however, was not hampered as the incident happened outside the channel, he added.