Banglar Shourabh
On the early morning of October 4, the 138 meter long, 14,494 dwt oil tanker Banglar Shourabh (IMO: 8508955) caught fire while at the outer anchorage off Chittagong, Bangladesh. The Banglar Shourabh was loaded with 11,000 mt of crude oil that was to be unloaded at the port jetty when fire broke out at different sections of the vessel.
The Bangladesh Coast Guard had a speedboat in the area at the time of the fire. It along with 3 other Coast Guard vessels safely rescued 47 of the 48 crew on board the tanker. A fire fighting tugboat assisted by several tugboats from the port authority to extinguish the blaze. Reports state after 30 minutes, the combine effort had brought the fire under control. One of the crew on the Banglar Shourabh perished from injuries caused by the fire.
Authorities have not released the extent of damage to the Banglar Shourabh. An initial report stated the fire may have been deliberate and suggest sabotage. However, the incident is still under investigation. On September 30, the tanker Banglar Jyoti exploded while berthed in Chittagong. Both the Banlar Shourabh and Banglar Jyoti are owned by Bangladesh Shipping Corporation.
On October 7, some 5,000 mt of crude oil was transferred off to a smaller tanker to be transferred to the nearby Eastern Refinery. Authorities have chartered the tanker Global Dignity to transport the remaining oil off the tanker Omera Legacy to the refinery.