Major Fire Breaks Out on LPG Carriers Off Bangladesh During Alleged Illegal Transfer
On Sunday, a significant fire erupted aboard two LPG carriers during an allegedly illegal ship-to-ship transfer off the coast of Bangladesh. The LPG carrier Captain Nikolas was moored near Kutubdia, Chattogram, to offload its cargo to a lighter vessel, the B-LPG Sophia. The fire broke out around 12:45 AM during the cargo transfer operations.
The Bangladesh Coast Guard and Navy responded quickly, deploying seven vessels to control the flames on both ships. A total of 31 crew members from the vessels jumped overboard to escape the fire, and all were successfully rescued without any major injuries reported.
While the Captain Nikolas reportedly sustained minor damage, the B-LPG Sophia suffered significant destruction due to the fire. The LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh (LOAB) claimed that the cargo on Captain Nikolas had been misdeclared, suggesting that it actually originated from Iran, a sanctioned supplier. Additionally, the Captain Nikolas’s AIS records indicated a week-long gap in mid-September before its departure from the Persian Gulf.
However, CPA Secretary Mohd Omar Faruk stated that the vessel was searched, and no illicit cargo was found; the documentation indicated that the LPG was sourced from Dubai or Oman. The Chittagong Port Authority has established a committee to investigate the cause of the fire, aiming to complete the inquiry within a week.
Captain Nikolas is a 50 000 dwt LPG carrier built in 1992 and flagged in the Cook Islands. It had previously been detained in Hunen, China, in January for fire protection issues in the cargo deck area and faced similar citations again in March.
The incidents involving the Captain Nikolas and B-LPG Sophia mark the third and fourth major vessel fires off the coast of Bangladesh within two weeks. Earlier, a fire on the tanker Banglar Shourabh on October 4 resulted in one crew member’s death, while another fire on the tanker Banglar Jyoti on September 30 claimed the lives of three crew members.
