Ship movement from St Martin’s resume, stranded tourists to return to Teknaf today

English News Desk : Ship movement on the Teknaf-Saint Martin route was resumed on Monday (2 October) and tourists who have been stuck on the island since 30 September are scheduled to return to Teknaf in the evening.

On Monday morning, a vessel named MV Bar Aulia departed from Damdamiya jetty in Teknaf with 388 passengers and reached Saint Martin around noon, confirmed the ship’s director Hossainul Islam Bahadur.

If all goes well, the ship will leave for Damdamiya Ghat in Teknaf around 3:30pm with the tourists who have been stranded on the island for the last two days, he added.

He said that about 2,500 tourists went to Saint Martin between Wednesday (27 September) and Monday (2 October).

Due to the low pressure created in the Bay of Bengal, all types of ship movement were suspended on the waterway on Saturday and Sunday. More than 200 tourists visiting Saint Martin last Thursday and Friday were stranded on the island.

Earlier, last Wednesday after about 6 months of suspension, a ship named Auliya started sailing for the first time from Damdamiya Ghat in Teknaf to St. Martin with 517 tourists.

Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mohammad Adnan Chowdhury said, the MV Bar Aulia, was authorised for one week to sail to Saint Martin ahead of World Tourism Day. Ship movement will depend on weather conditions, he added.

Meanwhile, a speedboat on its way from Teknaf to Saint Martin overturned in Naikkyangdia area on Friday (29 September). A former UP member of St Martin’s Union died in this incident. At this time, 23 people including 17 tourists were rescued by the Coast Guard members.