Four vessels, including coal and LPG carriers, anchored at the outer anchorage of Chattogram Port have been washed ashore on 30 May due to strong tides and stormy weather.
The vessels affected were docked along the coast near the Port of Chittagong and fortunately there were no injuries or pollution reported in the incidents. As reported, two of the ships had ran aground near Gahira in Anwara upazila, while two others stranded along the Patenga coastline.
The vessels stranded in Anwara’s Raipur union, the tugboat Nafimar-3 and the large coal-carrying barge Mermaid-3, were pushed ashore by strong tidal waves.
Nearly two years ago, the barge had transported large stones from India for the SS Power Plant construction in Banshkhali and since then, ownership disputes and unpaid bills left the vessel abandoned offshore. According to local shipping agent, Vision Shipping the owners had failed to pay for tugboat fuel and other operational costs.
Meanwhile, the two other ships, MV Al-Herem and the B-LPG Sufia were also washed ashore near Patenga beach. B-LPG Sufia was damaged in an LPG transfer explosion on October 2024 and remains in poor condition.
