Lighter vessel partially capsizes at Bay

A cement clinker-laden lighter vessel partially capsized at the Bay near Bhashanchar area this morning after a crack developed in it due to rough weather.

All the 13 crewmen were rescued by staff of an oil tanker and a lighter vessel which were crossing the area during the incident, reports our Chattogram correspondent.

A vessel of Abul Khair Group, Titu-19, was off to Moktarpur in Munshiganj after loading around 1,250 tonnes of cement clinker from a mother vessel at the outer anchorage of Chattogram port.

The vessel capsized partially at the Bay around 3 nautical miles off from Bhashanchar around 11:30am after a crack developed at its bottom due to strong current in the sea, said Mohammad Salim, deputy director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA).

Currently, maritime ports are hoisting cautionary signal-3 and the sea is too rough, Salim said, adding that they earlier asked all the lighter vessels not to ply when signal-3 is hoisted. But some operators did not pay heed, he said.

Nabi Alam, general secretary of Lighter Vessel Workers Association, said eight crewmen of the sinking vessel were rescued by the staff of an oil tanker named Arju while five others were rescued by another lighter vessel named Begum Rokeya.

The clinker, which was imported by Abul Khair Group, was damaged as the vessel partially capsized, the BIWTA official said, adding that they were sending a letter to the owning firm to salvage the sunken vessel.