13 rescued as two ships collide at Chittagong port

Thirteen crew members were rescued by the Bangladesh Coast Guard after two lighterage ships collided head on in the narrow Karnaphuli channel near the outer anchorage of Chittagong port last night.

MV Nayeb 1 and Shantatul Haque 2 collided near buoy no. 2 around 8:30pm, leading to a fissure in the hull of MV Nayeb 1.

No major harm was done as the ship immediately beached itself along the Patenga coastline,the daily star quoted Lt Commander Sheikh Fakhruddin, staff officer of Bangladesh Coast Guard as saying.

Chittagong Port Authority has taken a series of measures to ease persisting vessel congestion which continues to cause huge losses in the country's export and manufacturing sectors.

Lighterage is the process of transferring cargo between vessels of different sizes and to reduce congestion bigger container vessels were allowed at night and creating more space at the yard, procuring handling equipment, enhancing capacity of the off-docks, resuming capital dredging and keeping the port operational round the clock.