Bagerhat: A coal-laden cargo vessel sank in the Shela River in Harintana area of the Sundarban in Mongla upazila on Saturday evening.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Sundarbans East Zone M Saidul Islam said Khulna-bound coal-laden cargo vessel ‘Sea Horse’, capsized at Harintana as it collided with some sunken parts of another vessel that sank at the same spot several years ago.

However, all the 14 crew members of ‘Sea Horse’ managed to swim ashore after the incident.

Earlier on December 9, 2014, a tanker carrying some 3.58 lakh litres of furnace oil capsized in the Shela River which created a platform for a massive and prolonged impact on the coastal ecology of the Sundarbans.