The Chittagong Port Authority has formed a nine-member committee to investigate a fire that broke out on two ships carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) near Kutubdia in Cox's Bazar.
The committee was established on Sunday, confirmed Port Authority Secretary Md Omar Faruk.
He said: "Lighter ship ‘Sofia’ and mother vessel ‘Captain Nicholas’ caught fire at the outer anchorage of the Bay of Bengal, west of Kutubdia, on Saturday night. The fire continues to burn on Sofia. Chittagong Port's tugboats, along with the Coast Guard and Navy, are working to control the blaze."
A committee, chaired by Chittagong Port Authority's Member (Harbour and Marine) Commodore M Fazlar Rahman, has been tasked with investigating the cause of the fire.
Rear Admiral SM Moniruzzaman, the chairman of the Chittagong Port Authority, signed the order for the investigation.
The committee includes various experts and intelligence agency representatives and has been directed to submit its findings within five working days.
Commodore M Fazlar Rahman said: "The investigation has already begun. We have spoken to crew members who were rescued from the ships and collected their statements. I will visit the site on Monday and speak to all relevant parties."
Atique Ua Khan, the captain of Captain Nicholas, explained that the fire started around 12:42am on Saturday while LPG was being transferred from the mother vessel Captain Nicholas to the lighter vessel Sofia near Kutubdia. The fire initially broke out on Captain Nicholas and later spread to Sofia, which remains ablaze.
"The ship's crew jumped into the water during the accident and were later rescued by the Navy and Coast Guard," he added.
The Coast Guard reported that as of 2pm on Sunday, the fire on Sofia had yet to be fully extinguished.
This is the fourth incident of a fuel tanker fire in Bangladesh's waters in the last two weeks.
On September 30, an oil tanker named “Banglar Jyoti” caught fire at Chittagong Port's Dolphin Jetty, resulting in three fatalities.
Another fire occurred on October 5, involving an oil tanker named “Banglar Sourav” at the outer anchorage of Chittagong Port.
Both ships were owned by the state-owned Bangladesh Shipping Corporation.
