A fire broke out on two ships, carrying Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), at Kutubdia Point in the Bay of Bengal early Sunday.

The incident occurred around 1AM.

Confirming the Md Zahirul Haque, captain of the Coast Guard`s Eastern Zone (Chittagong), said that upon receiving the news, a Coast Guard tugboat and three metal sharks came to to rescue.

Kutubdia upazila nirbahi officer (acting) Mohammad Shahadat Hossain, said, "Top officials of Navy and Coast Guard have been informed about the fire."

The fire originated at the tanker B-LPG Sophia, owned by Bashundhara Group, and Captain Nikolas, at the Kutubdia anchorage after midnight.

Senior crew Atiq U Khan said that the fire started while separating the LPG carrier Sofia from the mother vessel Nicholas after completing the lightering operation.

All 18 crewmen, two mooring men, three watchmen from the tanker, and eight port security guards from the mother vessel who jumped into the sea after the fire broke out, were rescued by a tugboat.

Chittagong`s divisional Fire Service and Control Defence (FSCD) control room said there was an Indonesian chief officer in the vessel.

The Coast Guard official was unable to say how the fire started or estimate the total financial loss from the fire.