Five crew members of a fishing vessel were injured with burns after it caught fire near Dhoonidhoo on Saturday afternoon. The yellowfin tuna fishing boat, Fresh from the Sea, sank on Saturday evening as firefighters attempted to extinguish the blaze, the MNDF said. All 15 crew members were rescued but police said two Maldivians and three expatriates were brought to Malé on a resort vessel after suffering injuries. MNDF advised seafarers to be look out for debris floating 0.38 nautical miles south from Dhoonidhoo.
STELCO announced that electricity bills will be discounted to cap charges at MVR 400 (US$ 26) for the 30 days of Ramadan, with meter readings to be taken on Sunday and Monday ahead of the start of Ramadan next week.
A fisherman from Laamu Kunahandhoo discovered what appears to be debris on an uninhabited island from a rocket launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation. Kunahandhoo Council President Ibrahim Shakeeb said the MNDF informed him that a team would travel to the island on Friday to retrieve the remains.
Customs seized 36 kilograms of hashish oil, with an estimated street value of MVR 29 million, after inspecting a sea cargo shipment at Malé Commercial Harbour on Thursday.
Police said a 27-year-old Maldivian man was arrested last Wednesday on suspicion of sexually abusing a minor and has been remanded in custody for 30 days by the Criminal Court. Mihaaru identified the suspect as Aflah Ali, a co-founder affiliated with the tuition centre Bright Minds Education.
The price of Kandoodhoo-grown scotch bonnet peppers, a popular Ramadan staple in local markets, has risen to MVR 450 per kilogram due to limited supply.
TSHD Oranje and Queen of Netherlands, two dredgers belonging to Dutch dredging giant Boskalis, have been working simultaneously to reclaim land in Giraavaru lagoon, President Muizzu said. The government intends to allocate plots to Malé residents from 169 hectares of reclaimed land in the lagoon west of the capital as part of the previous administration’s Binveriya housing scheme.
Ismail Zariyand, an independent candidate for Malé mayor aligned with former President Abdulla Yameen’s People’s National Front, pledged to raise the city council’s revenue from MVR 208 million to MVR 2 billion within five years.
President Muizzu congratulated Tarique Rahman, the leader of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, following its landslide victory in the parliamentary elections held on Thursday.
Immigration granted inward clearance for MS Queen Anne, which arrived on its inaugural visit to the Maldives from Port Victoria, Seychelles, with a total of 2,669 passengers and 1,235 crew members on board. It was the largest cruise ship to visit the country.
