Chittagong, Feb 15 (bdnews24.com)—At least seven sailors are missing after two lighterage vessels sank and another was damaged in a collision with a larger ship.
Meanwhile, Chittagong Port authority has confirmed that operations are continuing normally following the incident.
The port's radio control room said that the two vessels, MV Titu-21 and MV Titu-22, sank 10.65 nautical miles away from the Kutubdia lighthouse around 1:30am on Tuesday.
Another light vessel named MV Titu-16 was partially damaged in the incident.
Both the light vessels were waiting to return to the port after collecting 2,700 metric tonnes of cement-clinkers from MV Ansir, when they rammed by another larger vessel, MV Hamsir, and sank after the collision, port secretary Forhad Hossain told bdnews24.com
According to the port secretary, there were 26 crew members on board the sunken ships, while another 13 were manning the damaged vessel. "I have heard that some are missing," he added.
All the three light vessels and the ship are owned by the Abul Khair group and controlled by their local agent Litmond Shipping.
"The collision led to four sailors of MV Titu-21, two sailors of MV Titu-22 and one crew member from the MV Titu-16 being knocked off board. The sea men are still missing. Work is ongoing for their recovery", Litmond Shipping operations manager Abul Kashem told bdnews24.com
He added that the damaged vessel had returned to port.
Hossain said that the port's rescue team was being assisted by the Navy and the Coastguard.
Port deputy conservator captain Nazmul Alam told bdnews24.com, "The port's operations are not being hampered as the accident occurred outside the port channel."
However, work is going on to mark the locations of the two sunken vessels to ensure safety of other ships.
bdnews24.com/mc/mi/ost/tk/1541h
