River channel on Dhaka-Barishal route closed after cargo ship capsizes

The Miarchar channel on Barishal-Dhaka river route has been declared closed after a cement-laden cargo vessel capsized there on Saturday afternoon.

The vessel -- MV Farhana Monem -- got stuck in the char due to strong currents in the Meghna river and tilted to its right. At one point, part of the vessel went under water, said Ajmol Huda Mithu, deputy director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and Barishal river port officer.

Nine crew members were rescued by fishermen, he added.

Considering navigational risk, BIWTA has declared the  channel closed till further notice and asked water transports travelling  on the Dhaka-Barishal waterway to use the alternative route along  Mehendiganj upazila's Ulania-Kaliganj channel.

"Miarchar is the main channel for plying passengers launch on  the Dhaka-Barishal route. But due to the circumstance, we  are closing the channel and requesting launch owners to use the  alternative route," said the BIWTA deputy director.

BIWTA personnel have installed marking buoys around the spot and are  monitoring the situation. Salvage operation of the sunken cargo will  start as soon as water flow pressure decreases, Ajmol said.

The Miarchar channel -- connecting the Muladi and Hizla upazilas of  Barishal-- is a critical waterway, the closure of which will come with  inconveniences for travelers of the route as well as for the launch  service industry of the area, said Reazul Kabir, owner of passenger  launch "Surovi-8".

"The channel is generally used by passenger launches of the  Dhaka-Barishal route as it saves time and cost. During Eid, when we start non-stop service due to increased demand, this  closure will be costly, and may even lead to increased accidents due to  increased load on the Ulania-Kaliganj channel," he speculated.

Put in context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the scenario becomes even  more miserable for launch owners, said Saidur Rahman Rintu, central vice  president of launch owners association and owner of a launch fleet  plying this route.

"We are already running launches with only  one-third of passenger capacity for the sake of social distancing,  incurring huge losses," he said.

"If the Miarchar channel remains  closed, the losses will only increase as we will be bound to ply an  extra four kilometres, paying for four more barrels of oil. This will  add more than Tk 50,000 per trip to operating costs," he added.

He said Commodore MA Sadek, chairman of BIWTA, has assured them of reopening  the channel as soon as possible, after the pressure of upstream water  flows decrease and salvage work is completed.

Meanwhile, a general diary was lodged with Muladi Police Station over the vessel capsize, said Bellal Hossain, officer in charge of Hizla River Police Station.

The vessel was going from Narayanganj to Nowapara of Jashore with 13,000 bags of cement worth around Tk 55 lakh.