The government of Bangladesh is planning to hand over the Chittagong fish harbor to the navy to build another jetty for mooring small warships, ignoring the recommendations of all the inquiry committees formed earlier after the accidents at the flotilla jetty of the navy's Isa Khan Base.
The fish harbor will be handed over to the navy some time in the next three months for infrastructural development, The New Age reported Tuesday.
Shipping experts and all the inquiry committees recommended that the government shift the naval base to another, more suitable place to prevent accidents in the port channel and to ensure safety of the Chittagong Port.
The government's decision to set up another naval establishment in the area will increase the risk of accidents in Chittagong, the country's principal maritime port the experts said.
At least seven collisions between the commercial and naval ships took place at the channel in the last decade, caused mainly by the location of the flotilla jetty near the port.
The last accident took place on June 27 when a commercial ship, MV CEC Copenhagen, collided with three warships of the navy base and damaged them seriously.
Source: Xinhua