Banglar Samriddhi and the untimely death of a young sailor
The first thing that could have prevented the attack on Banglar Samriddhi was to refrain from going to the Ukrainian port, which was declared risky on 15 February
As I was writing this piece, a breaking news story on the TV screen showed that the 28 sailors of Banglar Samriddhi, a Bangladeshi ship stranded in Ukraine, had been evacuated to a safe place. Thanks to the authorities concerned for their prompt action. But for this, they had to sacrifice the life of a young man.
Russia invaded Ukraine a day after the ship anchored in the country's port. In such a situation any ship should leave the port for safety. Banglar Samriddhi reportedly did not leave because of the unavailability of a pilot.
According to the shipping corporation, the ship would have to cross a 70 nautical mile channel to reach the sea, which obviously requires a pilot. But the port of Olvia is only 11 nautical miles away from the nearest gulf. Marine traffic shows the position of the ship Banglar Samriddhi 10 miles away from the gulf and it could reach the Black Sea by sailing only 15 miles further.
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It is quite possible that in such a situation the activities of the port were halted. But questions remain: did the ship's captain ask permission to leave, or did he take any initiative to leave without a pilot? Did the port authorities stop him from leaving without a pilot? Was the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation barring him from doing that?
It seems unlikely anyone would have stopped the departure of the ship without the pilot in a war situation.
The Port of Olvia is basically in a wide bay, just 11 miles from the sea. The width of the bay is about three miles and the narrowest part is two miles wide. The capacity of Banglar Samriddhi is 39,000 tonnes, which is 180 metres long, 32 metres wide and its depth is 6.5 metres. The winds and currents in the channel are very mild, and it was not difficult for the ship to leave the port without a pilot.
Many reasons are being cited about why the ship did not leave immediately after the war broke out. But it did not take long to rescue 28 sailors of the ship when war was intense with the Russian forces on the other side of the river. This process was completed in a very short time. The management does not seem to have made much of an effort to bring the ship out without a pilot.
Once, ships were completely dependent on captains or masters. Now a large part of a ship's operations is controlled by the shore-office or management. What to do on the ship when there is a security threat, or updates of new rules, are sent to the ship from the office. Much of the tasks that the captain had to undertake before are now done from the office. The more efficient the management company, the more profitable the business.
That's why before hiring a ship, people look first at the quality of the management company. A shipping company hires a management company when they have just a few ships, because it is expensive to maintain management operations when you have just 8-10 ships. But big companies like Shell, BP, and NYK have more than hundred ships. They manage their own ships. This is called ownership management.
V-Ship, Bernard Schultz, Anglo Eastern are big management companies who manage around 500 ships each. But they have no ships of their own. Owners who have five to ten ships pay them to operate their ships.
The largest management company is V-Ship which operates about 950 ships. In terms of infrastructure, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation is the largest ship management company in Bangladesh. The offices of the world's four largest management companies, which jointly manage about 3,000 ships, will be smaller than the offices of the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, which manages only nine ships.
Every ship management company appoints its officers and directors according to their fleet. For example, a company that operates only container ships employs experienced captains and chief engineers in container ships. Companies that only operate tankers, employ manpower experienced in this matter.
However, those who are employed in the management of Bangladesh Shipping Corporation are experienced in sailing ships with a maximum of 3,000 tonnes capacity. They have no experience in port, cargo, trans-oceanic navigation. Bangladeshi sailors operate super tankers, gas tankers or mega container ships with a capacity of 2-3 lakh tonnes.
The Department of Shipping issues certificates of competency to these sailors. But those who are usually assigned to the highest positions in the management of this organisation do not have experience in operating ships with a capacity of more than 3,000 tonnes. However, former sailors of Bangladesh work with repute in big companies around the world.
The certificate of MCA of the United Kingdom is the most prestigious in the world. Bangladeshi sailors have worked with reputation in many important positions, starting from Chief Examiner, in the MCA. But Bangladeshi sailors are never considered to run the Department of Shipping, Maritime University, Chattogram or Payra ports and the Shipping Corporation of Bangladesh. Innocent civilians, such as Hadisur Rahman, are sent to the war field of Ukraine, but those who are trained for war sit at the offices.
An accident is the last part of a long chain of events. The best way to prevent an accident is to prevent it from happening. The first thing that could have prevented the attack on Banglar Samriddhi was to refrain from going to the Ukrainian port, which was declared risky on 15 February. It was anchored there for seven days even after the war began.
Although the quick and safe evacuation of unharmed sailors is an admirable task, the loss of Hadisur Rahman is unforgivable. The cause of his death was not a missile or fire, it was negligence of some people. An analysis of the email communication of the last two weeks of the ship will reveal who is responsible.
The country needs development and prosperity, but we do not need it by sacrificing the life of young people like Hadisur Rahman.
The writer is a mariner and owner of The Iron Cruise
