At least 30 foreign and local merchant ships have been stranded at Bangladesh’s main Chittagong port after a sunken vessel had jammed the port channel, officials said on Thursday.

"Ship movement was suspended early today when a local lighter ship sank in the port channel," a traffic official of the Chittagong Port authority said.

The port channel connects port berths with the outer anchorage in the Bay of Bengal.

The small vessel MV Shah Bodor-1 was carrying cement and was believed to have sunk due to overloading. All 15 crew were either rescued or swam to safety.
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