5 Hope crew return home

CHITTAGONG, July 8: German cargo ship Buxmoon carrying the five surviving members of Bangladeshi cargo vessel MV Hope’s crew has docked at the outer anchorage of Chittagong Port.

‘Buxmoon’ anchored at 8:45pm Sunday at the ‘Bravo’ anchorage, said Chittagong Port radio control department.

Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) Secretary Syed Farhad Uddin Ahmed said that the Bangladeshi sailors aboard Buxmoon were in a good shape.

The five survivors are MV Hope’s deck cadet Mokhlesur Rahman, 4th engineer Abdul Hakim, Mohammad Rubel, Mohamed Osman and Saiful Islam.

The cargo vessel was bound for Bangladesh laden with raw product for ceramic, ‘ball clay’, early on Thursday when it faced cross winds and rough tides. A few among the 17 sailors on board got onto a life boat to save their lives. The rest put on life jackets and jumped into the sea.

A Royal Thai Navy helicopter rescued Deck Cadet Abu Bakar Siddiqui who was floating with his life jacket and sent him to a hospital in Phuket that day. Buxmoon had also rescued the five same day.

The second day, Friday, saw three more getting rescued and the Buxmoon recovered the dead bodies of two crew members. Both their bodies were handed to the Thai navy.

Those rescued on Friday – MV Hope’s Second Officer Mobarak Hossain, Deck Cadet Rayekh Fairooz and Engine Cadet Mushfikur Rahman – were admitted for medical attention.