All crew members of a capsized lighter vessel, carrying 1,100 tonnes of wheat, were rescued early yesterday from the Bay of Bengal near Sandwip.

Quoting Bangladesh Coast Guard, Mohammad Salim, deputy director (DD) of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) in Chittagong, said all of the 12 crew members of MV Patgati-2 were rescued by noon.

A lighter vessel named MV Abdullah Ala Asif-10, Bangladesh Navy rescue ship BNS Sandwip and a coast guard ship took part in the rescue, he added.

Nur Uddin, an assistant master of MV Patgati-2, told The Daily Star over phone that he and his colleagues put on life vests and jumped into the sea around 3:30am when their vessel started to capsize after developing a crack following a collision with an unidentified lighter vessel.

During the incident, their ship was about 10 miles away from Sandwip, on way to Narayanganj from the Karnaphuli river with wheat imported by Bashundhara Group, he said, adding that after swimming for nearly an hour in the rough seas, he along with two other sailors were rescued by the crew of MV Abdullah Ala Asif-10.