Nine crew members have so far been rescued alive from the partially capsised Bangladesh merchant ship MV Hope near Phuket, Thailand and five of them returned to Chittagong in another vessel, Buxmoon, on Sunday night. The five crew members — Deck Cadet M Moklesur Rahman, fourth Engineer M Abdul Hakim, Deck Fitter Mohammed Rubel, Oiler Mohammed Osman and GS Saiful Islam — reached Chittagong port’s outer anchorage by Buxmoon at 8:45pm today.
Captain Mohiuddin Abdul Qadir told journalists that the government ordered not to go near the ship and the five crew members will land at 10am Monday. “Later, we’ll hold a press conference at 3pm.”
The Bangladeshi ship ran into trouble in the early morning of July 4 about 40 nautical miles south of Phuket due to inclement weather in the sea.
Among the rescued crew, Second Officer Mohammad Mobarak Hossain; Deck Cadet Raeq Fairooz; Engine Cadet Mushfiqur Rahman and Oiler Abu Bakar Siddique are being treated at Wachira Hospital, Phuket and they are at different stages of recovery, said a Foreign Ministry release here on Sunday.
There were 17 Bangladeshi crew members onboard the ship.
The Thai rescue team recovered two bodies of Chief Engineer Kazi Saifuddin and Chief Officer Mohammad Mahbub Morshed of from the sea on July 5, which are now in Phuket Hospital.
The Bangladesh Embassy in Bangkok is working for the early sending of the dead bodies.
Earlier, upon receipt of the information, Bangladesh Embassy officials rushed to Phuket to coordinate the rescue operation and treatment of the surviving crew.
Bangladesh Ambassador to Thailand Kazi Imtiaz Hossain also visited Phuket to see the condition of the rescued crew and oversee the rescue operation.
One official from the Bangladesh Embassy in Bangkok has been stationed in Phuket to closely monitor the rescue operations of the Thai Navy team.
The Phuket-based Thai Agent of the shipping company has assured Bangladesh Embassy in Bangkok of taking care of the crew and also of the deceased, including arranging their tickets to return home and the transportation of the mortal remains.
The owners of MV Hope have sent a tug to rescue the partially sunken ship, while Thai Navy are continuing their search and rescue operation to find the remaining missing crew members.
– UNB
