Vessel returns safely to Ctg

Cruise ship MV Bay One, which caught fire on the Kutubdia Channel en route to St Martin’s Island with about 800 tourists on board, returned safely to Chattogram on Friday.

The 26-year old luxury cruise ship on Chattogram-St Martin’s route was carrying some VIPs. It left the water bus jetty in Patenga at 11pm Thursday and was scheduled to reach the coral island at 6am on Friday.

Just two hours into the journey, thick smoke engulfed the upper parts of the ship, spreading panic among the passengers and igniting fears of a tragedy similar to the recent Jhalakathi ferry fire that killed dozens.

Images and footage shared by the ship’s passengers showed some of them demanding the vessel be taken back to Chattogram. The ship’s crew gave the passengers life jackets, said Amir Hossain Babu, who was on board with his family.

“The ship’s firefighting unit contained the blaze in less than an hour, but most passengers said the vessel was defective and did not want to continue to St Martin’s,” he added.

“It harked back to December’s Jhalakathi vessel fire that killed and injured dozens of people,” Babu said.

Coast Guard sources said that no one was injured in the early Friday fire.

Upon receiving the news, several ships of Coast Guard, Navy and Chattogram Port Authority went to the spot and brought it back to Chattogram.

Engineer Abdur Rashid, Managing Director of Bay One Ship Owners Authority Karnaphuli ShipBuilders, said the fire broke out while removing air from the ship’s fuel line but was brought under control immediately.

One engine was damaged in the fire, but the other was still in operation, he said. Rashid said it was the country’s most luxurious and modern cruise ship imported from Japan and the total investment for the vessel is around Tk 100 crore.

According to sources, the reconditioned ship has transported tourists in Japan for years. The 400-metre, 11,000-horsepower vessel began carrying passengers for the first time on the Chattogram-St Martin’s route in 2019.