The captain of a Cyprus-flagged ship went missing as he fell from the vessel into the waters at Chittagong sea port tonight.

Makopoulos Vasileios, 57, is a Greek national and the captain of MV Erina which came from China, Lt Col Md Abdul Gaffar, director (security) at the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), told The Daily Star.

He slipped from a rope ladder as he was checking the vessel’s draught at Jetty no 7 at the port around 8:00pm, Lt Col Gaffar said.

People on the ship could not rescue the captain immediately as he was caught in the ebb tide, the port official said.

Seven patrol and two turbo boats have been conducting a search and rescue operation at the spot, he said.

MV Erina, a bulk carrier, is carrying around 28,458 tonnes of materials including steel pipes and machineries for Payra sea port in Patuakhali, the correspondent said.