Ferry services at Shimulia-Banglabazar suspended

Ferry services on the Shimulia-Banglabazar route has been suspended by the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) due to strong currents on the Padma River.

The service was suspended at 2:30pm on Wednesday to avoid any accidents in the river and around the Padma bridge construction areas, confirmed BIWTC’s Banglabazar Ghat Manager Saladin Ahmed.

“We are not able to say right now when the services would resume. We are requesting the people to use the Paturia-Daulatdia route instead,” he said.

Meanwhile, authorities of both the RoRo Ferry terminals stated that hundreds of passengers and vehicles were stranded at the terminals waiting to go across the river to reach their destinations.

BIWTC Shimuliaghat Deputy General Manager (Commerce) Shafiqul Islam said, “When the current subsides, the ferry service will restart.”

Ahmed Ali, deputy general manager (marine) of BIWTC Shimulia Ghat, said the move was made keeping in mind the security of the ferries, passengers and the Padma Bridge.

Ali said that the ferries are capable of travelling at a speed of six nautical miles and the speed of the river current is at 4.8 nautical miles, so the ferries will have no problem reaching Banglabazar from Shimulia.

But on their way back the speed of the ferry and the current combined overpowers the reverse gearing of the ferry and as a result it loses performance and control.

Thus, this creates a security concern for the ferries and passengers.