Vessel with food arrives at Saint Martin’s amid crisis

A vessel named ‘FB-Baro Awlia’ arrived at Saint Martin’s Island on Friday, carrying 75 tonnes of food provided by the local administration and 150 tonnes of food from traders.

The vessel departed from Nuniarchhara ghat in Cox’s Bazar around 1:00 pm, confirmed ship’s director Hossain Mohammad Bahadur.

Additional District Magistrate Yeamin Hossian said that the food was sent under VGED and VGF programmes, along with five cattle for Eid-ul-Azha, 300 packets of dry foods, medical equipment, and three midwives.

The vessel reached the island around 6:30 pm, said Saint Martin’s Union Parishad Chairman Mujibur Rahman.

On Thursday, four trawlers with hundreds of residents stranded in Cox’s Bazar due to Myanmar unrest reached the island.

Over 10,000 island residents have been facing severe food shortages following the suspension of vessel operations on the Teknaf-Saint Martin’s Island route, disrupted since February due to escalating violence in Myanmar. Frequent gunfire along the Teknaf border has further disrupted the movement of goods and people, causing panic among residents.