Govt shuts Sundarbans' Shela River route after oil spill

The government has closed Shela River route to all modes of vessels after the sinking of an oil tanker that has led to a massive oil spill in the Sundarbans.

The Ministry of Shipping in a media statement on Wednesday night also said the ship which rammed the victim vessel was detained from Bhola earlier in the day.

It said MV Total's survey certificate and registration were also cancelled.

The statement said an urgent inter-ministerial meeting presided over by Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan decided to shut the route until further notice.

Tanker 'OT Southern Star 7' was carrying 357,664 litres of furnace oil when it went down after being hit by MV Total on the Shela at Mrigmari in the forest's Chandpai range early on Tuesday.

The massive oil spill from the tanker has already put the biodiversity and ecology of the world's biggest mangrove forest, a world heritage site since 1997, at risk.

The ministry said every possible measure had been taken to control the oil spill and that the situation would become normal in the next two or three days.

The ministry's Additional Secretary Md Rafiqul Islam had been made coordinator to oversee the cleanup, the media statement said.

Several government departments are investigating the capsize of the tanker and the oil spill.