Cargo vessel capsizes in Bay of Bengal

A lighter vessel carrying around 1,500 tonnes of cement clinker capsized near Bhasanchar of Noakhali in the Bay of Bengal yesterday morning.

All the 13 crew members of MV Sheikh Parvin were rescued, said Mohammed Selim, deputy director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), Chittagong.

The Narayanganj-bound vessel, which left the outer anchorage of Chittagong Port at 4:00am, collided with another lighter vessel, Basundhara-27, around one nautical mile off Thengarchar around 9:00am. As a result, cracks developed in the MV Parvin, said Mohammed Jafar, master of Basundhara-27.

He said Basundhara-27 ran aground in a hidden shoal around 8:30am and MV Parvin while bypassing the vessel hit it due to a strong current.

The BIWTA deputy director said they would mark the area so that other vessels can avoid collision. Salvage operation would start soon, he added.