Sources said Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) Magistrate Md Munir Chowdhury in a raid at a Bangladesh flagged vessel -Eid-E-Mostafa- owned by Continental Liner Agency held the three sailors yesterday afternoon.

They were identified as Md Harunur Rashid and Mosharraf Hossain hailing from Begumganj of Noakhali and Nurul Hoque from Mongla of Khulna.

The court also seized three passports from possession of the sailors who confessed that they joined the vessel as welders and painters before making the illegal voyages to different foreign ports such as Gujarat, Yangoon and Karachi.

Sources said the sailors had no permission or valid certificates required for travelling foreign ports.

In this regard, Munir Chowdhury said many shipping companies usually hire such persons at low salaries creating scope for illegal voyage to foreign ports without paying revenue.

The evil practice deprives many legal and skilled sailors of the country of jobs, he added.