Owners of the two vessels will have to count huge financial losses if they are not rescued soon
Goods laden ships BM Warrior and Banglar Shikha have remained stuck on a shoal in Fairway area of the Bay of Bengal at the entrance to Mongla port, posing the risk of major accidents anytime. Besides, the owners of these vessels will have to count huge financial losses if the two vessels are not rescued soon.
Panamanian flag carrier BM Warrior that brought 15 thousand tonnes of urea fertiliser for Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation from United Arab Emirate ran aground on a shoal in Fairway Buoy B-12 area on June 2.
Earlier on May 15, Banglar Shikha, a ship of Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, carrying around 7 thousand 800 tonnes of wheat for the food ministry, got stuck on a shoal in Buoy B-11 area.
Such accidents occur due to disfunctional signal lights of the buoys along 22 nautical miles from Fairway buoy to Heron Point, navigation crisis for not removing the earlier sunken ships and pilots’ failure to follow instruction from the port, said the authorities concerned.
Ferdaus Kabir, manager of Khulna office of Trust Shipping Limited, shipping agent of BM Warrior, Sunday said the process to rescue the ship is on and a big coaster will be brought from Chittagong soon to unload the goods from it.
Sirajul Islam Molla, manager of Khulna branch of Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, owner of Banglar Shikha, said during the high tide on Saturday the ship could be moved 800 metres with the help of a powerful tug that was brought from Singapore.
The total cost to rescue the ship may reach 15 lakh dollars, he added. Several persons involved in ship piloting and shipping business have demanded development of the navigation on the channel leading to the port to avert such accidents.
About half of 18 signal lights are inactive, Harbour Master Lieutenant Commander Enamul Haque said, adding that the authorities called a tender to repair and modernise the inactive lights and the process will start very soon.
Source: The Daily Star