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MEGHNA LAUNCH DISASTER

Ministry dissatisfied with probe report

Parliamentary body asks probe body chief to explain shortcomings

RAFIQ HASAN
The shipping ministry is reviewing the probe report on the sinking of MV Nasreen-1 in July last year as it was found to have failed to identify the actual causes and persons responsible for the tragedy that cost several hundred lives.
The parliamentary standing committee on the ministry also has
asked the convenor of the investigation committee to be present in its meeting tomorrow and explain the shortcomings in the probe report, sources said.
MV Nasreen-1 sank in the river Meghna near Chandpur July 8 last year. Officially, a total of 110 bodies were recovered from the sunken vessel and there were another 199
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passengers missing. A total of 230 passengers escaped death as they either swam ashore or rescued after the accident.
But, according to unofficial sources, the death toll would exceed 600.
The Department of Shipping hurriedly formed a three-member investigation committee headed by Shafiqul Islam, engineer and ship surveyor of Mercantile Marine Department, Chittagong.
But the ministry found the probe report submitted by the committee in August last year as 'weak and partisan,' and rejected it. The ministry also asked the probe committee to submit a supplementary report within that month.
The supplementary report also failed to identify the causes of the accident and made some illogical arguments, sources said.
The probe committee allegedly did not point out the fact that surveyors okayed the survey reports of the launch during a long 22-year period without even visiting it.
MV Nasreen-1 was built in 1981 and refurbished in 1999. The investigation committee mainly blamed faulty design of the launch for the catastrophe, though the sunken vessel is yet to be rescued, commented a shipping expert, wishing to remain unnamed.
The committee mentioned
'squat effect,' the tendency of a vessel to be pulled downwards when travelling in shallow water, as the cause of the accident. But the place of occurrence was very deep, at the confluence of rivers Padma and Meghna, he pointed out.
Shipping experts and naval architects reviewed the report and submitted their observations to the ministry last Tuesday. They too termed the report partisan and erroneous.
Although MV Nasreen-1 had an official capacity to carry 294 passengers, it took more than 1,000 passengers on board and 400 sacks of rice and pulse on deck on that fatal trip on July 8.
According to witnesses, around 400 additional passengers had boarded the ship on that trip as another launch on that route cancelled its journey at the last moment.
Shipping experts observed that the probe body intentionally avoided accusing any of the shipping department staffs and making any constructive recommendation in its rather long and detailed report.
Shafiqul Islam could not be contacted over telephone even after several attempts.