Tourist Ship Operations Suspended on St. Martin's Island Route

The cyclone that formed in the Bay of Bengal has started affecting the country including Cox's Bazar district. The sky is overcast all over the district. It has been raining heavily since morning. The sea is rough.

The meteorological department has asked the seaports to pull down the remote cautionary signal number 2 and display the local cautionary signal number 3. In this situation, the Teknaf Upazila Administration has announced to suspend tourist ship operations with St. Martin, the only atoll in the country. In this situation, more than three hundred tourists are stranded on St. Martin's Island.

Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Parvez Chowdhury confirmed the matter on Saturday (December 4) afternoon.

He said that the ships that went to St. Martin today are coming back. From Sunday (December 5) no more ships will leave for St. Martin's. The ban will remain in place until the weather improves.

Monwar Hossain, a meteorologist at the Cox's Bazar Meteorological Office, said the maximum sustained wind speed within 54 kms at the cyclone center was 62 kmph, increasing to 88 kmph in the form of gusts or gusty winds. At the moment the sea is rough near the center of the cyclone. Seaports have been asked to lower remote cautionary signal number 2 and display local cautionary signal number 3.