The Ministry of Industries has ordered the temporary closure of Kabir Steel Limited's (KSRM) shipyard in Chattogram's Sitakunda.
The ministry issued the directive after repeated allegations of worker deaths.
In addition to the closure of the shipyard, a five-member committee has been formed to investigate the incident.
The information was given in a letter signed by Sohela Nasreen, Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Industries, on Monday (February 14).
On the night of February 1, Ariful Islam Sujan, 27, a worker at KSRM's shipyard, died. According to the preliminary inquest report, Arif died while working on the ship. But the company was trying to prove that the worker had died of a heart attack to avoid this responsibility. Immediately after this incident, the Ministry of Industry moved seriously to deal the matter.
The ministry has directed the suspension in the case of hiring unskilled workers, not ensuring safety of workers and frequent deaths of workers in accidents.
A letter from the industry ministry said a worker was killed at KSRM's shipbreaking yard on February 1. As a result, negative perceptions are being created about the ship recycling industry at home and abroad. In this case, the shipyard of Kabir Steel Limited will be temporarily closed till further notice.
The Ministry of Industries has also sought an explanation from Kabir Steel Limited within the next seven working days regarding the deaths of workers.
The investigation committee will submit the report within seven working days after investigating the cause of the accident and determining the responsibility.
Earlier, in March 2020, the Ministry of Industries had banned the import of ships due to lack of adequate security, unskilled workers and repeated accidents at the Khwaja Yard owned by the KSRM Group.
The death of a worker at KSRM's shipyard is imminent. .However, the ministry thinks that the incident of deaths of workers at KSRM's shipyard on February 1 has had a negative impact on Bangladesh's ship recycling industry at home and abroad. That is why this directive has been issued.