Fatal gas leak: Ferdous Steel fined Tk5 lakh for illegal vessel cutting without renewed clearance

The Department of Environment (DoE) has fined Ferdous Steel Ship Recycling Industries Tk5 lakh for cutting a scrap vessel without renewing its environmental clearance, days after a deadly toxic gas leak at the same yard killed nine workers.

The DoE's Chattogram regional office issued the order today (19 August) following a hearing under the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, 1995 (amended in 2010).

The action was taken after the department's Chattogram district office inspected the scrap vessel MT RASI at the yard on H Akbar Ali Road in Bhatiari, Sitakunda, and found cutting operations underway without a renewed environmental clearance.

According to the order signed by Jamir Uddin, director of the DoE's Chattogram regional office, the unauthorised cutting constituted a punishable offence, making environmental damage recoverable under Section 7 of the law.

The company has been instructed to deposit the Tk5 lakh compensation into the government treasury within seven working days via a treasury challan and to cease all cutting operations on the vessel until a renewed clearance is obtained.

Failure to comply will result in a court case and further legal action.

The company retains the right to appeal the order within 30 days under Section 14 of the Act and Rule 27 of the Environment Conservation Rules, 2023, provided it deposits 25% of the compensation through an e-challan to the designated appellate authority.

The regulatory crackdown comes shortly after a catastrophic incident on 14 August at the same shipbreaking yard, where nine workers were killed and at least six others injured while removing water from a ballast tank of a vessel being dismantled.

Police have since filed an unnatural death (UD) case over the incident.

Yesterday, a joint inspection team and expert committee conducted a detailed examination of the vessel, detecting toxic hydrogen sulphide gas readings ranging between 8 and 18 parts per million (ppm) alongside black sludge inside three of the ship's eight ballast tanks.

While no gas was detected in the open areas of the vessel, testing showed the toxic gas escaped after water inside the tanks was disturbed during sample collection.

Experts noted that hydrogen sulphide dissolved in diluted form inside the water poses a risk of being re-released during removal operations.

Jamir Uddin, director of the Department of Environment's Chattogram regional office, who is also a member of the investigation team, confirmed that upper and lower water samples from all eight ballast tanks were collected and sent to laboratories at Buet and the DoE to determine the exact chemical composition of the sediment and gas concentration.

Captain Anam Chowdhury, another investigation team member, stated that marine firm Prantik Marine will submit a comprehensive plan to drain, clean, and gas-free the ballast tanks, which will be evaluated by the expert committee before work is authorized. All activities on the vessel remain suspended.

Four separate investigation committees have been formed to probe the disaster, including one by the Chattogram district administration, an 11-member investigation committee and an eight-member technical committee by the Ministry of Industries, and a five-member committee by the Bangladesh Ship Breakers and Recyclers Association.

Investigators have recorded statements from several yard officials over three days and are preparing to submit a final detailed report upon receiving the laboratory test results.