Coal Cargo: Sunken vessel yet to be salvaged

The vessel that sank in the Passur river in Sundarbans on Saturday with 775 tonnes of coal was yet to be recovered last night.

Officials of the environment department collected samples of river water from the area to examine in a laboratory whether the coal had contaminated it.

Officials of the forest department also visited the area yesterday.

Divisional Forest Officer of Sundarbans Mahmudul Hasan told this correspondent that an assistant forest conservator would submit a report after assessing the environmental impact of the incident.

“We will take necessary actions after getting the report,” he said.

The cargo vessel, MV Bilash, was heading for the capital's Mirpur. It sank at Harbaria anchor-five hours after it ran aground.

This has been the fourth cargo of coal to sink in the mangrove forest in the last three years.

HM Waliullah, harbour master of Mongla port, on Sunday said he had asked the vessel owner to recover the vessel within 15 days and claimed that the coal was covered and would be contained.

On January 13, 2017 another light vassal MV Aichgati sank with 1,000 tonnes of coal in the Sundarbans.

On March 19, 2016, MV Jabalay Noor sank with 1,235 tonnes of coal in Dhanasagar area.