The Teknaf upazila administration relaxed the ban on passenger vessels’ operation in the River Naf after Friday night’s discussion between the administration and the trawler owners on the security situation.
Teknaf upazila nirbahi officer SK Ahsan Uddin told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· on Saturday that the trawlers carrying passengers and commodities were now allowed to move from Teknaf to Cox’s Bazar, Saint Martin Island and the Bay of Bengal.
‘No sounds of firing or explosions were heard since Friday noon. The situation seems quiet. Following the development, the ban on vessel movement was relaxed,’ he said
Vessel operators are instructed not to cross the international border line, he warned.
He added that fishing in the Naf River had been suspended for a long time. However, there was no restriction on the movement of fishing trawlers from the River Naf to the sea.
Rashid Ahmad, the president of the Saint Martin Service Trawler Owners’ Association, said that all the service trawlers from Shah Porir Dwip to Saint Martin’s Island had resumed operations.
After months of fighting with the Myanmar military junta, the Arakan Army claimed to have taken control of the town of Maungdaw on December 8. Following this, the Arakan Army issued a statement imposing an indefinite ban on navigation in the Myanmar-controlled portion of the River Naf.
In response to this situation, on Sunday, the Teknaf upazila administration imposed an indefinite ban on the movement of all vessels in the Bangladesh-controlled portion of the River Naf, including the Teknaf-Saint Martin’s route.
During the ban, special measures were taken on Thursday to deliver essential goods to Saint Martin’s Island.