Two lighterage ships collided head on in the narrow Karnaphuli channel near the outer anchorage of Chittagong port last night.

MV Nayeb 1 and Shantatul Haque 2 collided near buoy no. 2 around 8:30pm, leading to a fissure in the hull of MV Nayeb 1, our local staff correspondent reports.

No major harm was done as the ship immediately beached itself along the Patenga coastline, said Lt Commander Sheikh Fakhruddin, staff officer of Bangladesh Coast Guard (East zone).

Coast guard rushed to the scene and rescued 13 crews of the distressed ship, he added.