Trawler sinks off Taltali after helping stranded fishermen, two missing

A fishing trawler, FB Mohima, sank in rough weather in the Bay of Bengal off Taltali in Barguna district on Tuesday, 7 July 2026. According to Jagonews24, it went down on its way back to shore after going to the aid of a trawler whose engine had failed. Sixteen of the 18 fishermen on board were rescued alive; two men from Sonakata union in Taltali upazila, Kalam and Shahid, were missing. Taltali Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mohammad Zahidul Islam confirmed the incident at midday on Wednesday, 8 July.

Citing the trawler's owner and local sources, Jagonews24 reported that 10 to 15 trawlers set out together before dawn on 7 July from Sakina Ghat in the Fakirhat area of Taltali to fish for hilsa. In rough weather one trawler's engine failed. FB Mohima went to help, and five fishermen from the disabled boat came aboard and stayed on to haul in its net. As the waves grew and the weather worsened, all the other trawlers, the disabled one included, returned safely, but FB Mohima did not. Fishermen ashore tried to call those on board and found every phone switched off.

Other newspapers gave a somewhat different account. Desh Rupantor and the Daily Inqilab reported that two trawlers, owned by Tapan Jomaddar and Alamgir Khalifa, sank at about 8pm some 40 kilometres south of the Fakirhat fish landing centre: after the first went down, its crew moved to the second, which was then overturned by the waves as well.

All the reports agreed that at around 3am that night other fishing trawlers picked up the men found floating in the sea. By Jagonews24's account one trawler rescued 12 and another rescued four. The survivors were admitted for treatment to the health complex at Mahipur in Patuakhali.

The day before the sinking, on 6 July, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department had told the ports of Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Mongla and Payra to hoist local cautionary signal number 3. Desh Rupantor reported that a monsoon depression over Odisha and south Jharkhand threatened squalls over the north Bay of Bengal and the coast, and that fishing boats and trawlers in the north Bay were told to stay in shelter until further notice.

Golam Mostafa Chowdhury, president of the Barguna fishing trawler owners' association, told Jagonews24: "We have got two trawlers ready to search for the missing fishermen, but because of the rough weather we cannot send any trawler to sea right now."

UNO Mohammad Zahidul Islam told Jagonews24: "Of the 18 fishermen who went missing when the trawler sank, 16 have been rescued, and we have been in touch with their families. The Coast Guard has been informed about the two missing fishermen and will take the necessary steps to rescue them." Desh Rupantor and the Inqilab quoted the Taltali Coast Guard commander as saying that a deep-sea search could not begin while the sea was so rough and would go ahead once the weather improved.

The accident came a few weeks after the annual sea-fishing ban ended. BSS reported that the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock had barred all fishing in Bangladesh's waters of the Bay of Bengal for 58 days, from mid-April to 11 June 2026, to protect breeding, production and marine biodiversity. Once it was lifted, coastal fishermen went out for hilsa in the rough seas of the monsoon.

Photo: Shafiul / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sources: Jagonews24, Desh Rupantor, Daily Inqilab, Khobor Sangjog, BSS