A lighter vessel carrying 800 tonnes of coal sank in the Bhairab river in Bhatpara area of Jashore's Abhaynagar early today.

The price of the coal onboard MV Purbanchal-7 is estimated to be around Tk 1.35 crore, reports our Jashore correspondent quoting Jagadish Chandra Mandal, sales officer of M/s JHM Group, an importer.

Master of the ship Mofizur Rahman said due to the low tide early in the morning, the vessel began to tilt. Water started getting into the ship around 3:30am and the ship slowly sank in the river.

The crew onboard the vessel were safe.

Mandal said the coal was imported from Indonesia and brought to Mongla port via cargo ship.

A small amount of the coal was unloaded to a lighter vessel on the morning of January 14.

On the evening of January 15, the ship anchored at the Bhairab ghat in Bhatpara area.

"The ship had 800 tonnes of coal. We are trying to recover the coal from the river," he added.