Families in distress as 18 fishermen remain missing for 2 months after heading to sea

Families of 18 fishermen, who headed for sea two months ago but have not yet returned home, have requested law enforcers not to stop their search.

With a strong sense of foreboding, the families have been visiting government offices, including the river police, coastguards, and navy, in search of their loved ones.

A fishing trip usually lasts seven to 10 days. But it has now been two months, and there has been no contact with any of the 18 men, bdnews24.com reports.

Law-enforcing officials also said they are looking for the missing trawler but have yet to find any trace.

The wooden fishing trawler, “FV Khaja Ajmir” left Chattogram city’s New Fishery Ghat around 4:30 am on September 13, with 18 fishermen, including the owner, Ali Akbar, onboard. That night, around 9:45 pm, Ali Akbar last spoke to his wife, Selina Akter, over the phone. Since then, all contact with the trawler has been lost.

On September 25, Selina filed a general diary with Sadarghat River Police Station seeking help to locate the trawler.

Speaking to bdnews24.com, Selina said she filed the GD 13 days after the trawler had left the shore.

The 18 missing fishermen are from Cox’s Bazar’s Maheshkhali and Nuniachhara, and Chattogram’s Banshkhali areas.

On Monday, relatives of the missing fishermen had gathered in front of Sadarghat River Police Station in Chattogram. Selina Akter was there with her two sons and younger daughter.

“The last time I spoke to my husband, he asked me to pray for him,” she said.

She does not want to believe a trawler with 18 people aboard could vanish without a trace.

“Every day I wait for my husband, and our children wait for their father,” she said.

Md Siddique had come from Cox’s Bazar looking for his son, Helal. Helal was the family’s only breadwinner and the father of two children, aged two years and seven months.

“Helal switches between fishing and masonry depending on available opportunity to take care of the family,” Siddique said.

He said Helal earlier went on fishing trips on small trawlers and that this was his first time on a larger trawler.

He added that six of the missing men, including the skipper, are from his area. “None of them have been found,” he said.

Sadarghat River Police chief Mizanur Rahman told bdnews24.com, “The trawler has gone missing in the sea. There’s nothing we can do. We’ve informed the Coast Guard and the Navy about the matter.”

Sometimes trawlers cross maritime borders and are detained in other countries.

“We’ve also informed the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) about it, but they couldn’t provide any information either.”

The police have also instructed families to keep tabs on bodies washed ashore or found following disasters in the sea.

Tags: Sea, fishermen, river police, disaster, missing fishermen, Navy, Coast Guard, Cox’s Bazar, Maheshkhali, Banshkhali.