Agradoot located the two capsized vessels, presently buried beneath 20 meters of water , using its sophisticated EA400 single-beam echo sounders, according to an Inter Service Public Relation (ISPR) release.
Three Navy vessels-- Agradoot, Tista and Tallashi —have been conducting search operation to rescue the capsized vessels. Besides, divers of the Navy have been conducting drives to rescue the lone man reported missing, who has remained so since the vessels capsized and eventually failed to stay afloat in the face of the inclement weather.
Fertilizer-laden cargo vessel ‘ML Hardda’ sank in the Passhur at Harbaria point of Mongla while unloading fertilizer, during a sudden nor’wester that swept over the country in the night.
Besides, an unidentified man remains missing from the passenger-launch ‘ML-Aktar,’ that ran afoul of the weather with 25 people on board and sank in the Passhur at Nandabala in the upazila during the same storm. The launch was heading for Mongla Port.
The Coast Guard and Mongla Port Authority are also involved in the rescue operation that still continues at the time of filing report.