IN MEMORY OF LATE SALAHUDDIN AHMAD (1E): Mubashir Ahmed Khan (2E)

I joined Marine Academy as junior cadet on 1st of October, 1963. I was placed in Mizzen Top in which late Salahuddin was the Cadet Captain. Late Ali Sarwar was our Leading Cadet and Shahab Razzaque , the Senior Cadet Captain. Late Salahuddin had passed his ISc. From Cadet College Chittagong. Salahuddin was a smart cadet and good leader. Personally he was always nice to me.

When I joined BSC as Chief Engineer in April, 1981, late Salahuddin was Senior Engineer Superintendent. During my service with BSC, Salahuddin resigned from BSC and set up his own marine business company.( His Post in BSC was taken by late A F Mohammadullah (1E)). I met him a few times in his office in Chittagong and always found him warm and friendly. Once I asked him casually what jobs his company was doing. His answer was, “we do everything related to merchant ships.”

It was towards the end of 1990, when my Ship M V Alps was anchored at Outer Anchorage after discharging cargo in Chittagong Port. Unfortunately one night, most of our ropes were stolen. Without ropes, it was impossible to sail for next port Kolkata. Myself and Captain visited some marine stores in Chittagong to buy ropes but were not successful. It occurred to me that late Salahuddin could solve our problem. By coincidence, his office and our Agent’s office were in the same building in Chittagong. Salahuddin very kindly arranged two white nylon ropes to be delivered to our Ship from a bonded store on payment of 1100 dollars. One custom officer was also present on the boat which brought the ropes to the Ship. ( these two ropes were equivalent to four ropes if both ends were used.)

Following the theft of our ropes, we asked the Agent to lodge a police report. His answer was interesting. He said, “ though your ship is at the Outer Anchorage but officially you have sailed out from Chittagong so there is no logic in reporting to the police. Later we took the matter to Salahuddin for his advice. What he said was even more interesting. He stated, “we ourselves are not very clear as to who controls the Outer Anchorage!”

Late Salahuddin was a prominent mariner and truly professional. Once I visited his house in the evening and found him writing a technical report. Salahuddin will Insha Allah be always in our memory. May his soul rest in peace. Amen

Mubashir Ahmed Khan (2E); London 09.04.2020 Email. mubashira2050@gmail.com