When it comes to take a break, we usually think of going to sea beaches or high rocks or historical monuments. But do we know Bangladesh has much more to offer? I wouldn’t realize the country is resonated with such natural beauty until I visited Sundarbans on 9th February, 2024 arranged by Youngship Bangladesh. The Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world situated in the delta formed by the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It is also an UNESCO world heritage site and home to the indigenous Royal Bengal Tigers.
We started our journey at 12.30 am on 9th February 2024 from Dhaka and reached at Khulna at 5.00 am on 9th February 2024. Master of the MV The Sail was eagerly waiting for us to welcome with his crew members. Since MV The Sail was anchored, we had to reach there by a boat around 6.00 am. I was amazed to see MV The Sail and spent half an hour on the open space behind the conference hall to enjoy the sun set while everyone was taking rest in their rooms.
Around 11.00 am, our President, Mr Tanjil Ahmed Ruhullah (Director of the Sail Shipping Ltd) had facilitated a welcome session with the Board Members and Members of YoungShip Bangladesh where the Master of The Sail also introduced himself and described the vessel’s features and Sundarbans which was very insightful.
At 12.00 pm, we landed our first spot called Andharmanik Forest Office and walkthrough the jungle trail to experience a glimpse of mangrove forest. We saw beautiful deers and the Sundari tree while walking through the trail. I never knew that the name of the Sundarban (Sundar means Beautiful in Bengali) was came from the Sundari tree until our vessel’s manager said so.
We had a presentation session at 8.00 pm on the rooftop of the vessel, where our President, Mr Tanjil Ahmed Ruhullah introduced us about YoungShip and its core objectives and engaged in brainstorming with us about the future plans of YoungShip Bangladesh. After the presentation, board members introduced themselves. This was very helpful to establish network with such experienced and talented individuals from diverse backgrounds in shipping from Maritime Law, Maritime Logistics, Naval Architecture, Claims Handling, Port and Shipping Agency.
On 10th February 2024, we visited our second spot called Kochikhali around 6.30 am to explore the narrow creeks but unfortunately for some restrictions, we couldn’t able to see. However, we could visit the Tiger point area and saw deers.
After returning from Kochikhali, we were preparing ourselves to visit one of the popular tourist spots called Kotka Jamtola Seabeach. It is said that, tigers are often seen in this area.
We left the vessel around 11.30 am to visit the Kotka Jamtola Seabeach. After reaching to the spot, monkeys were seen standing and looking at us in a way that they were welcoming us. Then we had to walk for almost 40 minutes to reach Kotka Jamtola Seabeach. Finally, our hard work pays off after seeing the beautiful seabeach. We didn’t wait anymore and jumped into play football in the beach.
After returning from the spot, we had our delicious lunch of The Sail and planned for BBQ night where we had a music/ jamming session where our Board Member, Mr Imran Khan blew us away with his guitar-playing prowess.
Around 11.30 pm on 11th Feb 2024, we were preparing ourselves for the exceptional event which was visiting two Ocean-Going vessels. We jumped into the speed boats to visit the ocean-going vessels. MV SEAMELODY was the first one to visit and we were cordially welcomed by the Chief Engineer and the Master of the vessel. We experienced the bridge and took photos with the Master. We also had seen how the cargo of Urea was discharged into lighter vessel using the crane and was one of the best experiences for us.
Our next and last visit to the ocean-going vessel was MV JAHAN SISTERS which is a Bangladeshi owned vessel. We were lifted up with the crane to reach the deck of the vessel. The crew members and the Master were very welcoming and offered us delicious snacks. We also took photos with them in the bridge and observed the cargo discharge of limestone. The Master of the vessel familiarized us with the different functions of bridge instruments and how they operate to maneuver the vessel. Indeed, this was a great learning for us. For many of us, it was our first experience boarding an Ocean-Going vessel which was really exciting and enlightening.
