Coast Guard rescuing foreign ship carrying stone for Matarbari Power Plant

The foreign ship Z Qingdao that went missing while carrying stone for Matarbari Power Plant in Cox's Bazar from India in the deep sea amid adverse weather has been found in the Bay of Bengal near Charnijam in Bhola.

A team of Bangladesh Coast Guard on Friday traced the sailor-free ship and took it under their custody, Lieutenant Colonel KM Shafiul Kinjal, media officer of Coast Guard, told The Business Standard.

"The ship appeared in the Bay of Bengal estuary on Thursday, but it was not possible to go to the spot immediately due to hostile weather," he said and added that the first expedition failed to find the ship.

"Another group from our Bhola station finally became successful in tracing it."

The ship was carrying 13,000 tonnes of stone from the Kakinada Anchorage Port in Andhra Pradesh of India. In the meantime, it drifted in the deep sea in bad weather, he explained.

"We have made arrangements for the safety of ships and cargo," added Kinjal.

When contacted, Bhola's Char Fashion Upazila Nirbahi Officer Al Noman said they learned that a foreign ship without a sailor came ashore and local fishermen and pirates were looting goods from the ship.

"I quickly reported the matter to Charmanika Coastguard Station and the local police. Due to the delay in rescue, an influential group has looted some goods from the ship, I heard," he told TBS.

"The upper part of the unmanned ship was open. We have received video footage showing some are looting valuable cargo from the ship with a trawler," Dhalchar UP Chairman Abdus Salam Howladar added.

However, Mohammad Arif, contingent officer at Nizampur Coastguard Station in Bhola, told The Business Standard, "We took the ship into our custody on Friday afternoon. At that time, we removed locals gathering around the ship. Our higher authorities are currently dealing with the further work of its rescue."