CHITTAGONG, Dec 6: Salvage operation of fishing trawler FV Bandhan has been abandoned with the trawler itself and its 28 fishermen remaining under deep water in the Bay of Bengal.
All the fishermen and crew inside the vessel are feared dead as the rescuers have left their attempt after a week of operations conducted by ships of the Bangladesh Navy and the Coast Guard.
Relatives of the ill-fated fishermen and crew members are wailing at the AK Khan Ghat of Banglabazar anchoring area of lightering vessels on the bank of the river Karnaphuli until Saturday.
The namaj-e-janaja of the deceased was held on Friday afternoon in the trawlers at the AK Khan Ghat of Banglabazar as the rescuers of Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard declared the operations abandoned after failing to find out any trace of the victims.
During the namaj-e-janaja, the management of the trawler - Bengal Fisheries Ltd - said it would take necessary steps to compensate the families of the victims. They tried to console the relatives saying they are equally aggrieved and would stay beside the victims' families.
Manager (operations) of Bengal Fisheries Ltd Kazi Quamrul Amin said the Navy has abandoned salvage operations. The trawler nearby the salvage site has also returned.
"We have lost everything with the death of my father who was the only earning member of the family. We had been waiting for my father, alive or dead, for the last one week. We don't know if the fishing trawler company or the government will do something for our survival,"
said Mohammed Shamim, son of Md Belayet of Lal Mohan Police Station under Bhola district.
Md Belayet, a fisherman of the ill-fated FV Bandhan, was one of the 28 fishermen and crew members who died in the deep waters of the Bay of Bengal in the fatal accident when the trawler owned by the Bengal Fisheries Ltd was hit by another vessel in the early hours of November 28 last.
Mohammed Shamim said they were now waiting for the dead body. Not only his father, he has lost three other close relatives in the incident, he said.
Attempts to trace the dead bodies of the victims of FV Bandhan were made by the members of the Bangladesh Navy, the Coast Guard and the authority of Bengal Fisheries - owner of the trawler. Other fishing trawlers in the area, however, rescued two fishermen alive and one fisherman dead immediately after the incident.
Bangladesh Navy Staff Officer Commander Shamim Md Khan said the rescuers along with their ships have returned from the deep sea area and have abandoned the operations.
The vessel remains under 120 feet deep water of the sea. There is no facility of the BN ship to salvage the trawler and the tide is strong there.
He said the trawler under deep water remains in a dangerous state due to deep silt. If the trawler's owners try to take an attempt to salvage the vessel by using the foreign technology, they can do it.
FV Bandhan met the fatal accident after having been dashed by a Singapore-bound ship at 30 nautical miles northwest of Cox's Bazar in the Bay of Bengal in the early hours on November 29.
The fishing trawler had left the Banglabazar area near Sadarghat in the city for deep sea fishing on November 18. A dead body and two fishermen were rescued alive immediately after the incident by other fishing trawlers nearby.
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FV Bandhan salvage operation abandoned
Pankaj Dastider | Published: December 07, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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