The crew of a ferry travelling between Mrauk U and Sittwe in Arakan State lost control of the vessel in strong currents causing it to run aground near Ponnagyun Port on 23 May.
U Chit Min, the director of the Rakhati Arr Man Ship Company that owned the ferry and was licensed to run the service told Narinjara News that none of the passenger on board the ferry, the Aung Takon 2, were injured.
The Aung Takon 2 ferry aground near Ponnagyun
He said: “There were only around 30 passengers on the ferry boat. There wasn’t any cargo. It happened while the boat was trying to enter Ponnagyun Port after departing from Mrauk U. The current was strong and the boat ran aground.”
He said that all the passengers were ferried to shore in motorboats and that later they were driven in cars from Ponnagyun to Sittwe.
Many people in Arakan State rely on water transport, but there are no new ferries operating in the state. Ferry passengers regularly face life threatening situations because the ferries are so old and in such bad condition.
Nearly 200 people died when the Aung Takon 3 ferry capsized whilst travelling between Kyaukpyu port and Sittwe on 13 March, 2015.
The previous Burmese government promised to buy new ferries from Japan, but none have yet been delivered.
At present all ferry services from Sittwe to Kyaukpyu, Myebon, Toungup, and Marnaung have been suspended.
During a Pyithu Hluttaw (lower house of the Union Parliament) session on 2 May U Ba Shein, the MP for Kyaukpyu Township, asked if the government plans to recommence these ferry services as people are facing difficulties travelling between Sittwe, Myebon, Kyaukpyu, and Toungup. If the government was not going to resume the ferry services he said he wanted them to explain why they had taken that decision.
U Thant Sin Maung, the Union Transport and Communications Minister, replied that local engineers were still designing the new ferryboats.
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
