Bangladeshi cargo vessel sinks in Hooghly

A Bangladeshi cargo vessel sank in the Hooghly river on Thursday following a mechanical failure and a crack in the hull when it collided with a Kolkata Port Trust ship.

All the 13 crew members on the ship, Mamatamoyee Maa, were rescued. One person sustained injuries in the mishap. The ship was returning home with fly ash from Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation thermal power plant.

Following the damage, the Bangladeshi ship’s sailors brought it close to a jetty at Maheshtala in Budge Budge and even tried to tie it to a tree to prevent it from going down. However, the tree got uprooted due to high tide and the ship sank.

A KoPT official said despite repeated warnings the Bangladeshi vessel intruded into the route designated for KoPT ships. The KoPT chairman has ordered an inquiry into the “intrusion”.

(With agency inputs)