A cargo vessel sank in the Pasur River in Mongla of Bagerhat on Thursday night with 600 tons of coal.
All the eight people on the ship were unharmed in the accident.
Shahadar Hossain, deputy harbour master at Mongla Port, confirmed the matter to Dhaka Tribune on Friday.
The cargo vessel named “MV Naomi” carrying 600 tons of coal sank in the river around 11pm after it hit a substance on the river bed.
The accident took place outside the main channel of the river, the official said.
“The owners of the vessel have been asked to salvage it within 15 days and shift the coal from the sunken vessel within 72 hours,” he added.
Accidents of coal-laden vessels in the Sundarbans mangrove forest area have been reported many times in recent years, with the green groups expressing concern over the contamination of water.
MV Fardin-1, a lighter barge or shallow-draft vessel, transporting 600 tons of coal sunk after it collided with a vessel near Harbaria-9 of the forest on November 15 last year. Several staff of the vessel died.
On March 30, another vessel named MV Efty Mahmud carrying 700 tons of coal sank in the Pasur River close to Mongla Port.
In the first such incident last year, a cargo ship loaded with about 800 ton coal capsized in the same river close to Mongla Port on February 27. The vessel, MV BB-1148, sunk near Baniashanta when it collided with another vessel.
