C T Online Desk: Bangladesh authorities have rescued a foreign ship that was sinking after a collision with another vessel deep into the sea near Kutubdia.
The rescuers used tugboats and two pollution control vessels to bring the container ship, Sitc Hainan, to Chattogram port’s Karnaphuli dry dock on Wednesday.
Besides the port’s workers and members of the International Salvage Union, private firm Prantik Bengal Service took part in the rescue operation.
Registered in Vietnam, the ship collided with another vessel, Orion Express, near Kutubdia after leaving Chattogram port on Apr 14 with 1,156 containers. It
Omor Faruk, secretary to the port authority, said the collision caused a big hole in Sitc Hainan’s cargo hold and it tilted seven degrees as water started entering the hold.
The ship then anchored in Kutubdia, with immediate need for repair and unloading.
The port authority’s Chairman Rear Admiral M Shahjahan decided to give the ship permission to berth to salvage it and the cargo.
Faruk said special dredging work was done to bring the ship as its depth under water increased to 10.7 metres after the accident.
“The ship and $8 billion cargo have been saved due to the right decisions being made. Otherwise, the goods would’ve been lost and the sunken ship would’ve hampered movements of other vessels,” he said.
Faruk believes the salvage operation will increase the port’s reputation.
