St Martin-bound vessel catches fire, crew member dies

A fire broke out on a Saint Martin-bound vessel Atlantic Cruise on the Bakkhali River in Cox’s Bazar town, killing a crew member. However, 194 tourists waiting at the jetty for the journey escaped the flame.

The incident occurred at around 6:45 am today, Saturday, at the BIWTA jetty in Nuniachhara of Cox’s Bazar Sadar.

At the time of filing this report, the fire had been brought partially under control. Two units of the Fire Service, along with the Coast Guard and volunteer teams of the administration, were working to fully control the fire.

Ship owners’ organisation Sea Cruise Operator Owners Association of Bangladesh general secretary Hosain Islam Bahadur confirmed the incident to Prothom Alo.

He said MV Atlantic Cruise regularly transports nearly 200 tourists every day. This morning as well, the vessel was attempting to dock at the jetty to take passengers to Saint Martin when the fire broke out. Within a short time, the fire spread throughout the vessel.

Deputy Assistant Director of Cox’s Bazar Fire Service and Civil Defence, Syed Muhammad Morshed Hossain, said the burned body of a vessel employee, Nur Kamal (35), was recovered. He had been sleeping in a cabin. A search was underway to determine whether anyone else was inside. The cause of the fire has not yet been confirmed.

Deputy Director of the Cox’s Bazar office of the Department of Environment, Khandaker Mahmud Pasha, who was present at the scene, told Prothom Alo that the fire broke out just 15 minutes before the vessel was scheduled to depart for Saint Martin. He said the accident could have turned into a major disaster had it occurred a little later.

After receiving news of the fire, Deputy Commissioner Md Abdul Mannan and senior police officials rushed to the spot. The Deputy Commissioner said the tourists were saved from a major danger and that the cause of the fire was being investigated.

Convener of the vessel management committee and Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Cox’s Bazar Sadar, Tanzila Tasnim, said, “The entire vessel has been damaged. There were no tourists on board at the time of the fire. The tourists of that vessel have been sent to Saint Martin on other vessels.”

The fire on Atlantic Cruise created panic among passengers waiting at the jetty. Mir Aslam, a businessman from Jatrabari in Dhaka and a passenger of the vessel, said he had purchased tickets for Atlantic Cruise four days ago.

He was waiting at the jetty with his wife and daughter to board the vessel when he saw the ship catching fire as it approached the jetty.

He said, “Allah saved us from a major disaster. If this had happened a little later, we all would have been in serious trouble.”

It has been learned that at 7:00 am, six vessels—including MV Karnaphuli Express, MV Bar Aulia, Keari Sindabad, and MV Atlantic—departed from the Nuniachhara BIWTA jetty carrying nearly two thousand tourists to Saint Martin.

After travelling through a 120-kilometre deep sea route, the vessels are expected to reach the Saint Martin jetty around 1:30 pm. Around 3:00 pm, the vessels will return to Cox’s Bazar with tourists who had travelled the previous day.

In this way, Saint Martin travel and overnight stays for tourists have been allowed continuously for two months until 31 January. Every day, 2,000 tourists are allowed to visit Saint Martin.

Hosain Islam Bahadur said, “Today, five vessels went to Saint Martin carrying 1,993 passengers.”

According to a government announcement, Saint Martin was opened for tourist travel from 1 November. However, due to the absence of overnight facilities and suspension of vessel operations, not a single tourist visited the island in November.

In November, tourists were only allowed to visit the island during the daytime, with no overnight stay permitted. However, overnight stays have been allowed for the two months of December and January.

A government notification states that no vessel will be allowed to operate to Saint Martin Island without approval from BIWTA and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Tourists must purchase tickets online through a Bangladesh Tourism Board–recognised web portal. Each ticket will include a travel pass and a QR code. Tickets without a QR code will be considered fake.