Cox's-Saint Martin's tourist ships to kick off Sunday

After a long wait, tourist ships will finally start operating to Saint Martin from Sunday (December 1). The ships will depart from the BIWTC jetty at Nunia Chara in Cox's Bazar city.

Earlier, the operation of tourist ships was expected to start on Thursday, but the ship owners decided to temporarily suspend services due to a lack of passengers.

Hossain Islam Bahadur, General Secretary of the Sea Cruise Operators and Owners Association of Bangladesh, said that the ships will start operating on the Cox's Bazar-Saint Martin route from Sunday (December 1). However, tourists will not be allowed to board the ships with polythene or single-use plastic items.

Additional Executive Magistrate (ADM) of Cox's Bazar, Nizam Uddin Ahmed, said, "As of Saturday (November 30) evening, the district administration has approved three ships for the Saint Martin route. This approval was granted after careful inspection following the directives of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change."

It is to be noted that due to the recent appearance of submerged shoals in the Naf River and security concerns from gunfire near the Myanmar border, ships are not being permitted to operate from Teknaf for now. Only ships departing from Cox's Bazar city have been authorized.

Every year, the government permits ship operations on the Teknaf-Saint Martin’s and Cox's Bazar-Saint Martin’s sea routes from October to March for six months. During the remaining six months, when the sea is rough, ship operations are suspended.