Dhaka – The Department of Shipping (DoS) Sunday has prosecuted the owner and master of sunken coal laden vessel MV Aichgati that went under water at Fairway Bay near the Sundarbans on Friday morning.
The DoS officials have primarily found that the vessel was overloaded which resulted in the crack of its bottom due to high tide and waves.“We have cancelled the survey and registration certificates of the sunken vessel as per primary report. Master Sohel Rana of the sunken vessel is also suspended,” chief inspector of DoS Shafiqur Rahman told The Independent yesterday.
He further said that a three-member probe committee led by ship surveyor Shahriar Hossain has been formed to enquire the accident.
“We have filed the case accusing owner of the sunken vessel Kazi Golam Faruk and its master Sohel Rana. The primary report probes that the vessel was overloaded,” the DoS chief inspector said in reply to a query.
He, however, said that more action would be taken after getting the final report.
MV Aichgati, a lighterage, carrying around 1,100 tonnes of coal to Noapara in Jessore, sank at Fairway Buoy area in the Bay of Bengal near Hiron Point in the Chandpai range on Friday around 8am.
Mongla Port Authority’s harbour master commander Mohammad Waliullah said they had already directed Noapara Traders of Jessore to take necessary steps to salvage the vessel immediately.
The experts have already warned that the Sundarbans and its ecology, rivers and channels, will face dire threats if such accidents occur frequently.
According to sources, the coal loaded sunken vessel won’t be possible to salvage as it is sank in deep water of the Bay of Bengal.
Three vessels sank in the Sundarbans area in recent months, raising serious concerns over the safety of the world heritage site and mangrove forest and its wildlife.
On December 9, 2014, an oil tanker Southern Star 7 sank and oil spread to the far corners of the forest with current of the Shela river.
A vessel carrying fertilisers sank in Pasur on October 28, 2015 and another vessel with coal sank in Shela on March 19, 2016. – Staff Reporter
