Staff Reporter :
A huge quantity of oil spilled from a tanker after it sank in a river in the Sundarbans with 3.58 lakh litres of furnace oil early Tuesday.
The tanker, Southern Star-7, carrying eight crew members sank in Shela River after it was hit by a cargo trawler around 5:00am.
Mokhlesur Rahman, master of the sunken oil tanker, went missing while the others managed to swim to safety.
Poor visibility due to dense fog caused the accident, said Abul Kashem Master, Joint Secretary of Bangladesh River Vessels Workers’ Association.
The oil tanker, which was taking the oil to Gopalganj from Padma Oil Depot in Khulna, anchored in the river at Joymoni Ghola of the East Range of the Sundarbans at night, said Md Giasuddin, Managing Director and owner of the oil tanker.
A team of the Coast Guards was conducting a searching operation to rescue the missing master, said Mehedi Masud, Commander of Mongla Coast Guard (west zone). The oil tanker capsized in the River Shyala in the Sundarbans after being hit by another tanker amid dense fog, association sources said.
All crews, except tanker master Mokhlesur Rahman, 50, managed to swim ashore.
The damaged ship started losing oil and continued to leak it into the river, said Mehedi Masud, Contingent Commander of Coast Guard West Zone.
The Forest Department, however, apprehended that the oil spills may cause huge damage to the bi-diversity in the Sundarbans.
The oil tanker ‘Souther Seven Star’ on its way to a power plant in Gopalganj halted at the Shyla River in between Mrigomari and Tambulbunia of the Cahandpai Range. At that time, another tanker named ‘Total’ hit the tanker, the Cost Guard official said.
