The Daily Star: CPA moves to recover 20 sunken ships

CPA moves to recover 20 sunken ships
Chittagong Port Authority has moved to recover 20 sunken ships from the Karnaphuli river and the outer anchorage of the Bay of Bengal.

The recovery work on 10 ships has started, and the CPA will appoint contractors next month to retrieve the rest.

Nine ships under the water in the outer anchorage of the Bay of Bengal may increase the risk of accidents for ships heading for the port, although the authorities claim that it will not create any problem in any channel.

According to CPA statistics, 61 ships went down between the Liberation War and 2009 in an area from the outer anchorage to Kalurghat Bridge of the Karnaphuli. In the outer anchorage, the total number of sunken ships is 22, and the rest are in the various points of the river.

Among the 22 ships in the outer anchorage, only seven ships have so far been recovered and six others are under the process of recovery.

Most of these ships are 700 gross registered tonnages (GRT) to 1,500 GRT in size and are treated as small to medium ships.

The authorities also said the eradication of submerged ships from the Alpha anchorage area would ensure safe movement of ships in the outer anchorage.

Around 500 coasters and small ships ply across the Karnaphuli everyday carrying various commodities and industrial products.

A port official said the situation is still under control but the increased movement of ships may endanger the port in future.

The authorities now plan to introduce a vessel traffic management system to navigate and guide these coasters and small ships in the river and sea.

Abu Taleb, a retired naval master chief, said some traditional ways are used in recovering the sunken ships. “Modern technology and equipment are required to make the recovery efficient,” he added.

There are some companies such as PSP Marine Services, Al-Moudud, Hazi Taz Mohammad & Company and Heramon Salvage that do the works of recovering the ship wreckages.

Captain KM Hafizur Rahman, proprietor of PSP Marine Services, said: “We have the capacity to recover a ship of maximum 6,000 GRT and the method of the recovery depends on the condition of the sunken ship.”