Fire on Saint Martin’s cruise ship, tourists return to Patenga after 13 hours

A cruise ship that left Patenga for Saint Martin's Island on Thursday night survived a fire incident after two hours of sailing in the Bay of Bengal. Fortunately, it did not see any fatality.

However, the 800 tourists aboard the ship – MV Bay One – returned to the Patenga coast after 13 hours of a traumatic experience.

They said the negligence of the ship authorities put their lives in danger; it initially tried to hide the information of the fire incident and to continue sailing. Later, in the face of their protest, the ship returned to Patenga.

"It was about 12:30am. A concert was going on on the ship. Suddenly, we noticed smoke inside the ship and learned the news of the fire incident in the engine room," said Lutful Kabir, one of the passengers of the ship.

All started a panic rush to manage life jackets and save lives, he explained, adding that the fire came under control a few moments later. 

"We, a team of 80, were cruising to Saint Martin. However, our journey turned into misery. With the blessing of God, we are still alive," said Ahmed Rashid, another passenger of the ship, adding that the fire-fighting system of the ship was not good enough, which was a must.

"We were completely in great anxiety. The authorities even did not provide us with safety guidelines. It did not support us with protective gears," described Safayet Ullah, who was travelling with his wife.

Another passenger Aminul Haque, also a human rights activist, told TBS that the incident happened near Kutubdia and about 17 nautical miles away from Chattogram.  Luckily, the ship could anchor near the coastline at about 1 o'clock in the night.

Later, a tugboat came from Chattogram Port the next morning and helped the surviving ship return. The ship reached Patenga on Friday noon, he added. 

Former railways minister Mujibul Haque and his family were also cruising by the ship. Echoing other passengers, he told The Business Standard that all of them panicked seeing the smoke of the fire.

"Several passengers helped extinguish the fire. One passenger got a little injury," he added.

The minister said the passengers were not willing to continue the journey, so the authorities had to return to Chattogram.

Meanwhile, the Bay One ship authorities briefed the media in Chattogram on Friday afternoon over the incident.

It explained that the engine room had a little issue and it was being repaired. At one point, a short circuit happened in a portion of the engine and caused a minor fire incident. Continuing sailing was possible later, it added.

"The fire continued for just five minutes. However, we did not continue sailing on request of passengers," said Md Hossain, captain of the ship.

He said that there was no weakness in their fire-fighting system. "Besides, we helped the passengers all the time."

In the briefing, the ship authorities announced that the passengers can travel again with the same tickets.

"We hope the ship will be ready again within a day for sailing. Everybody is welcome again," Chief Executive Officer of Bay One Sanowar Hossain said.

Imported from Japan, the 30-year-old ship was launched on the Patenga-Saint Martin route on 14 February last year.