A fire has broken out on a vessel bound for Saint Martin’s Island in the Bakkhali River near the Nuniachhara BIWTA jetty in Cox’s Bazar. The name of the vessel is The Atlantic Cruise. The incident was confirmed by Hossain Islam Bahadur, General Secretary of the Sea Cruise Association of Bangladesh (SCUAB).
He said the fire started at around 7:00 am on Saturday (27 December). So far, no casualties have been reported.
According to Hossain Islam Bahadur, as on every day, The Atlantic Cruise was heading to the jetty around 7:00 am to take on tourists for Saint Martin’s Island. Suddenly, smoke began to rise from inside the vessel, and within a short time flames were seen. Firefighting efforts are currently underway. No casualties have been reported so far.
Confirming the incident, Executive Magistrate and Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Tanzila Tasnim said that, in line with government directives, relevant administrative officials were present at the jetty area to check the boarding of tourists. During this time, the unexpected incident was observed. Fire extinguishing operations are ongoing, and the vessel has been completely damaged. However, no tourists had boarded the vessel before the fire broke out. Thankfully, the incident did not occur in the middle of the sea after passengers had boarded.
Cox’s Bazar Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Md Shahidul Alam said efforts are underway to determine the cause of the fire.
