Shipping Department on September 21 suspended the ship surveyor who illegally issued operating permit to the unfit passenger vessel Pinak-6 that capsized in the Padma river on August 4, killing over a hundred passengers on board. The action was taken following a government enquiry findings on the tragedy and the authorities are going to sue others responsible for the tragedy with the marine court.
We have suspended the surveyor, as he, among other officials, was directly liable for the tragedy, Commodore M Zakiur Rahman Bhuiyan, director general of Department of Shipping (DoS) told The Daily Star yesterday. Mirza Saifur Rahman, the DoS surveyor, allowed Pinak-6 to travel with temporary fitness certificate (token) thrice though the Inland Shipping Ordinance has the provision of such permission once for 45 days. "The vessel sank as it was allowed to ply on temporary permits issued in violation of the law despite the fact that you [Saifur] identified several faults with the vessel," read the suspension order. "The enquiry committee deemed your act as a sheer negligence of duty assigned to you," the order added. A departmental case would be lodged against him, said the director general. Advertisement Meanwhile, the DoS authorities have asked the chief ship surveyor AKM Fakrul Islam to show cause why similar administrative actions should not be taken against him for the tragedy, the DG said, adding that the license of a DoS-enlisted naval architect Saidur Rahman was cancelled for having failed to ensure proper design and construction of the vessel. Saidur Rahman, the architect who ensures compliance with the approved design during construction of a vessel, certified Pinak-6 as "satisfactory" despite it was built incorrectly and was unstable, said the director general. The architect, the vessel's owner, the Sukani (who was piloting the vessel in place of a certified master), the greaser (an assistant but was in charge of engine driver), and terminal lessees would also be sued at the marine court, he added. According to Inland Shipping Ordinance, temporary permit must not exceed 45 days within which the fitness certificate must be renewed and issued upon compliance with the rules. But in this case, Saifur first issued a 45-day permit for the vessel after its fitness certificate expired on April 30 this year, and then extended it for 30 days and again issued another 45-day permit. The government inquiry also revealed that Saifur did not make any declaration of survey findings of the vessel to the director general even once, although it was officially required, said sources. Saifur could not be reached for his comments, despite several attempts over mobile phone. Earlier, Saifur was withdrawn from Dhaka (Sadarghat) river port and attached to the DoS as the enquiry began. A seven-member probe committee headed by a shipping ministry joint secretary submitted their findings to the ministry on September 11 identifying overloading as the prime cause behind the capsize. The ill-fated vessel was carrying around 250 passengers against a capacity of 85.
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