Bagerhat: The Forest Department on Sunday formed a four-member committee to investigate the reason behind the capsize of a coal-laden cargo vessel in the Shela River at Harintana of the Sundarbans in Mongla upazila.

The committee, headed by Kamal Ahmed, assistant conservator of forest under Sharankhola range, has been asked to submit a report after assessing environmental losses within next three days, said Saidul Islam, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Sundarbans East Zone.

Meanwhile, representatives from the Forest Department, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), Coast Guard, Mongla port and local administration visited the spot in the morning.

DFO Saidul Islam said either overloading or fitness problem might have caused the vessel to sink.

However, no progress has been made in salvaging the sunken vessel as it is lying under 30-40 feet deep of water, he said.

The forest department is preparing to file a case in this connection, he added.

Meanwhile, the forest department banned the plying of vessels through Sharankhola-Bhola and Mongla-Pashur river points in the Sundarbans after 11:00am on Sunday, and asked all the vessel owners to leave the Sundarbans before sunset, the DFO said.

Earlier, a Noapara, Jessore-bound coal-laden cargo vessel ‘MV Sea Hosrse-1’ from Chittagong with 1235 tons of coal sank in the Shela River at Harintana on Saturday evening.

However, all the 14 crew members of the vessel, owned by ‘Shamata Trading Agency’, managed to swim ashore after the incident and went into hiding.

Earlier on December 9, 2014, a tanker carrying some 3.58 lakh litres of furnace oil sank in the river creating a ground for a prolonged impact on the coastal ecology of the Sundarbans.