A cargo ship carrying about 1,250 tonnes of coal sank in the Pasur river, which flows through the Sundarbans, after an oil tanker struck it around 9pm on Monday (26 October) at Sundari Kotha in the Pasur channel. The nine crew swam to another cargo vessel nearby and survived. Environmental campaigners fear damage to the forest and its aquatic life if the coal spreads in the river.
The vessel, MV Fulbari, is owned by Tania Shipping Lines. Its master, Sujan Molla, said it loaded coal from the foreign merchant ship MV Yas Jupiter at Mongla port's Hiron Point around 7am on Monday, bound for Ghorashal in Narsingdi. At Sundari Kotha an oil tanker hit it and it went down. Because the ship sank completely, how much coal has spread into the river could not be confirmed immediately.
Dipan Chandra Das, assistant conservator of forests for the Chandpai range of the East Sundarbans, said the site falls under the Charaputia patrol post. A Forest Department team was sent on Tuesday morning; further steps will follow once it is clear whether the coal is harming the forest.
East Sundarbans divisional forest officer Rezaul Karim Chowdhury said the tide was ebbing at the time of the accident. If coal has mixed with the water, monitoring at high tide may show it. Forest staff have been told to review the situation and report.
Md Nur Alam Sheikh, coordinator of Pasur River Waterkeeper and the campaign group Sundarban Rokkhay Amra, said coal ships keep sinking inside the Sundarbans. He said a recent study found lead, copper and mercury in fish from the Pasur above safe limits, citing coal and industrial pollution as among the causes. He fears coal carried on the tide could hurt the forest's biodiversity and the river's aquatic life, and wants the shipping ministry, the Mongla Port Authority and BIWTA to do more to prevent such accidents.
Commodore Md Shafiqul Islam Sarker, member (harbour and marine) of the Mongla Port Authority, said the main Pasur channel is safe, traffic is normal and the owners are moving to salvage the ship. Mongla police station OC Atikur Rahman said that by Tuesday afternoon no one from the cargo company had filed a complaint or general diary.
Reported by Monirul Haider Iqbal, Mongla (Bagerhat), Samakal.
Photo: a lighter vessel on the Pasur river (file), Nazmulhuqrussell / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Samakal
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