Anisur Rahman Khan :
With the passenger launch ‘MV Adventure-9’ catching fire at Sadarghat on Sunday, the tally of water vessel accidents reached 641 in the space between 1991 and 2022.
The accidents on waterways left over 3,881 people killed and 504 missing in the country in the last 31 years. Of the water vessel accidents, 253 were passenger’s launches, 180 cargo and 209 others during the period.
According to experts, these accidents took place due to lack of maintenance, unskilled vessel operators and outdated vessels operated breaching of inland water laws.
Besides, several thousands of water vessels are now operating across the country without registration, sources said.
Accidents take place due to lack of proper monitoring system by the authorities concerned, experts opined.
Many probe committees were formed from 1991 to 2022, but many of the probe committee reports are yet to see the light, sources told this correspondent.
The latest fire broke out in a docked passenger launch ‘MV Adventure-9’ at Sadarghat Launch Terminal in the capital on Sunday morning and later it was doused with no casualty.
The blaze started around 10:30am at ‘MV Adventure-9’, which berthed at the launch terminal mosque, Delwar Hossain, Member (Planning and Operation) of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) told The New Nation on Sunday.He said, seven firefighting units were able to douse the fire at around 1:30pm. However, the launch arrived at the Sadarghat carrying passengers at around 4:00am from Barishal, which was anchored beside the mosque near launch Terminal No-5.
“We have formed a probe committee, headed by Abdur Rahim, to assess the loss of the incident. Apparently, it seems that the fire damages the launch by over one crore taka,” Hossain said in reply to a query.
Ohidur Rahman, deputy director of Fire Service and Civil Defense, said, “We spoke to eyewitnesses and initially learned that the fire originated from the air conditioner (AC) of a cabin on the second floor of the launch. However, the details will be known after the investigation.”
A three-member investigation committee has been formed in this incident and they will submit the probe report within seven working days, he added.
There were no casualties from the fire, the fire service official said.
The government should apply the law strictly against the launch owners and its masters, chairman of Poribesh Bachao Andolan Abu Naser Khan told this correspondent.
In reply to a query, he said, “It is needed to amend the existing law that was constituted for inland shipping. The punishment and the amount of fine are very insignificant considering the level of offence.”
He urged the authorities concerned to make the probe committee reports public-so that the common people can know about the actual cause of water vessel accidents.
Chief Inspector of the Department of Shipping (DoS) Shafiqur Rahman said, a total of 14,805 inland vessels were registered from 1952 till December 2021. These include 847 passenger launches, 422 passenger boats, 3591 cargo vessels, 1016 goods carrier, 5,336 bulkheads, 362 oil tankers, 1528 dredgers, 44 ferries, 163 tugboats, 778 speed boats, inspection boats 26, work boats 93 and 503 barges. Besides, 36 ocean going ships, 83 coasters, 15 passenger ships, 95 tankers and 6,751 fishing trawlers were also registered with the DoS, sources said.
