The Sunderbans (East) forest department has filed a Tk. 5 crore damages suit against the owners and operators of the cargo vessel, Sea Horse-1, which sank at the Dolphin sanctuary in the Shela river on Saturday. Sultan Mahmud, station officer of the Dhansagor forest station of the Sunderbans (East) division, filed the case with the Sharonkhola police station of Bagerhat, fearing widespread damage to wildlife and aquatic life, for negligence, forest department officials said yesterday (Monday). The case was filed against the owner of the Sea Horse-1, Monira Kabir, Azizur Rahman, owner of Samota Trading  Agency of Chittagong, its manager Jamal Hossain, cargo vesssel master Md. Sirajul Islam Mollah, pilot Md. Ismail Farazi and Shukani Shahidul Islam. The BIWTA has suspended movement of vessels through the Shela river and diverted them to the Ghasiakhali channel to move cargoes inland from the Mongla port.
Despite the passing of three days, the vessel is yet to be salvaged from the water. The Sea Horse-1 hit the river bottom with its 1,235 tonnes of pit coal, which is said to be lethal for aquatic and wildlife and the surrounding forest. During high and low tides, the coal and oil from the vessel’s tank would spread to rivers and channels of the forest. Forest officials said despite contacting the owners and operators of the vessel, they have not responded to their calls for pulling the boat out of the water and remove its cargo. An oil tanker, the Southern Star, carrying 55,000 litres of furnace oil, went down in the Dolphin sanctuary of the Shela river on December 10,2014. The forest department and local residents tried to sponge out the oil spill in a desperate bid to prevent it from spreading further. But there were reports of widespread damage to the fish and other aquatic life. The sinking of the Sea Horse-1 coincides with the arrival on Tuesday of a team of experts  from UNESCO to assess the situation of the UN agency declared world heritage site, the Sunderbans, following reports of damage to its environment from shipping accidents, cyclones and other mishaps and also setting up of a coal-fired thermal power plant at Rampal near the forest. The project has drawn widespread criticism from conservationists fearing damage to the forest and its wildlife.