Environment Department Fines Sitakunda Shipbreaker 500,000 Taka Over Deadly Gas Incident and Expired Permit
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CHITTAGONG — The Department of Environment (DoE) has fined Ferdous Steel Ship Recycling Industries 500,000 taka for operating without a valid environmental clearance certificate, an oversight that preceded a fatal industrial accident at the Sitakunda-based yard.
The environmental clearance for the facility expired on August 12. Two days later, on August 14, nine workers were killed by toxic gas while dismantling the ship MT Rassi at the site. Following an inspection of the yard and a subsequent hearing, authorities determined the company had been operating illegally.
Jamir Uddin, director of the Chittagong office of the Department of Environment, confirmed that the fine was imposed based on an environmental damage assessment. The company has been ordered to deposit the funds into the government treasury within seven working days. Furthermore, the DoE has mandated a total suspension of all dismantling activities on the MT Rassi until the environmental clearance is officially renewed. Legal proceedings against the company are also pending in the relevant courts.
The accident prompted the Bangladesh Ship Recycling Board to suspend all operations at Ferdous Steel until further notice. Multiple committees have been formed to investigate the cause of the disaster. An initial report by a committee under the Ministry of Industries identified hydrogen sulfide as the likely cause of the fatalities.
However, a multi-agency investigation team—comprised of officials from the Ministry of Industries, the district administration, the Department of Environment, and the Department of Explosives—conducted an on-site inspection on Tuesday. While experts collected soil, air, and chemical samples from the ship’s ballast tanks, their initial findings indicated no detectable levels of hydrogen sulfide at the time of the inspection.
Ashraf Uddin, assistant director of the Chittagong Department of Environment, stated that the four-day delay between the accident and the inspection likely resulted in the gas dissipating into the air or dissolving in tidal waters. Investigators are now shifting their focus to determine if hydrogen sulfide remains trapped within the ship’s intact tanks. A specialized expert panel is expected to issue safety guidelines to ensure that investigators and future workers can proceed without further risk of exposure.
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