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Partial sinking of container vessel: Salvage ops yet to begin
Salvage operation to rescue a container vessel that partially sank in the Bay near Bhasan Char coast on Thursday noon could not be started till Saturday morning due to rough seas.
Salvage operation to rescue a container vessel that partially sank in the Bay near Bhasan Char coast on Thursday noon could not be started till Saturday morning due to rough seas.
The ship, Pangaon Express, carrying 96 TEUs (20ft-equivalent units) owned by Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), was on its way from Chattogram port to Pangaon inland container terminal on Buriganga river in Dhaka, reports our Chattogram staff correspondent.
Around 12 nautical miles off Bhasan Char around 12pm yesterday, facing high stormy wind and huge rolling around 12 nautical miles off Bhasan Char, the vessel tilted to one side.
Around 3:00pm, the vessel partially sank in shallow waters. Earlier, three containers fell off the ship.
The crew were rescued by a local fishing boat and were taken to Hatia island safely, said port officials.
Jahir Uddin Jewel, managing director of the ship's operating firm Sea Glory Shipping Agency, said teams of Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard with the help of a tugboat managed to pull back two floating containers to the nearby coast.
He said the ship remained partially submerged while in high tide most part of it goes under water.
However, officials at the CPA Marine Department feared that the containers risks falling off into the sea due to rough seas.
Earlier on Thursday night CPA asked the shipping agent for faster salvage of the ship.
The ship's insurance firm Sadharon Bima Corporation appointed the private firm Allied Inspection as the surveyor to determine the procedure for salvaging the ship.
Jewel said the surveyor firm yesterday tried repeatedly to send a team to the spot but failed due to rough seas.
He said shifting the containers from the ship to a barge with the help of a crane is also risky in such weather conditions.
In that case, some containers may need to be dropped into the sea in order to lift the ship for salvage work, he opined, adding the decision would be finalised after the visit of the surveyor team at the spot.