A coal-laden lighter vessel capsized near the Sangu Gas Field in the Bay of Bengal this morning.

The vessel, Hera Parbat-8, sank into the Bay in Chattogram with around 1,100 tonnes of coal around 8:30am, said Ataul Karim, an official of Water Transport Cell, a private organisation that allocates lighter vessels.

The vessel was on its way to Dhaka after loading coal from a mother vessel from the outer anchorage of the port, our Chattogram correspondent reports.

General Secretary of Lighter Vessel Workers’ Union Nobi Alam said they informed Bangladesh Navy and asked them to rescue the crewmen immediately after hearing about the incident.

He further said the vessel was moving around 2.5miles away from the designated route and was at the sea when signal 3 is being hoisted at the port.

However, the number and other details of the crew could not be known immediately.

The crew members of another vessel Mercantile-24 said they saw the staff of Hera Parbat in the sea water but failed to rescue them due to rough sea.

Contacted, Deputy Director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (Chittagong) Mohammad Selim said members of navy and coast guard are going to the spot to conduct a rescue operation.