3 crew of MV Hope rescued

Relative of a missing crewmember of Bangladeshi freighter MV Hope in tears at the office of the ship owner's representative in Chittagong yesterday. Photo: Star

Three of the 11 missing crew of Bangladeshi cargo vessel MV Hope that tilted in the Andaman Sea near Thailand coast on Thursday were rescued alive yesterday.
Merchant Vessel (MV) Baux Lagoon and Thai coastguards rescued the three and recovered two bodies.
Those rescued yesterday are engine cadet Mushfiqur Rahman, its second officer Mobarak Hossain and deck cadet Raeq Fairooz. The deceased two could not be identified immediately.

Rescuers of Thai Navy with two helicopters and three naval vessels had resumed the search for the missing crew around 9:00am yesterday.

On July 2, MV Hope had left Port Lumut of Malaysia for Chittagong Port with 17 crew members and 5,500 tonnes of Ball Clay. It met hostile weather early Thursday about 30 nautical miles off Phuket.

Out of fear, all the men on board had abandoned the ship. Six of them were rescued on Thursday.

Meanwhile, hearing the news of the rescue, family members of the victims yesterday thronged the offices of the ship's owner firm Trade Breeze Shipping Ltd and its insurance company Interport Maritime Ltd in Chittagong to enquire about their missing relatives.

Kabir, elder brother of one of the missing crew members Nasir, said his parents in Chandpur had become sick hearing the news of the accident Thursday afternoon.

"When we came to know about the rescue, we all became very excited," said Kabir, who went to Chittagong from the capital to get updates.

Jakaria, son of missing Ali Hossain, said he had lost hope when the news of the accident came on television.

"But now I have started believing that my father is alive and will soon be rescued," he said.

The owner firm of MV Hope belongs to Sama Quader, sister-in-law of BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.

Capt Mohiuddin Abdul Kadir, chief executive officer of Interport Maritime Ltd, said the owner firm of MV Hope had taken steps to salvage the ship. The vessel had moved about 20 nautical miles off the accident spot, and was still floating, he added.

Meanwhile, the fishing boat, Pailin, which had lost radio contact while being in Andaman Sea with its Bangladesh firm on its way to Chittagong port since Wednesday afternoon, has been found to have reached Phuket safely.