The director general of the Directorate of Shipping, Commodore Mohammad Maqsood Alam, said that the Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah, held hostage by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, is now anchored.
Commodore Mohammad Maqsood Alam, director general of the Directorate of Shipping, said this at the end of an inter-ministerial meeting on Thursday (March 14) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the rescue of Bangladeshi sailors held hostage by Somali pirates.
He said that for those who hijacked the ship, we are expecting that they will contact the authorities that concern us or the owner of the ship at some point. Then we will set the strategy for how to approach them in negotiations or something else. For now, we are concerned that the crew on board the ship is safe.
When asked where the ship is, Maqsud Alam said the exact place cannot be named. This is in their sea area, which appears to be 20 miles off their coast. Now the ship is not moving; it is anchored.
When asked to know the next steps to rescue the sailors, the Director General said that the next step depends on how the hijackers communicate and keep in touch.
Last Tuesday (March 12), around 1:30 p.m. Bangladesh time, Somali pirates took control of the ship named MV Abdullah. The ship was en route from Mozambique to Dubai. This ship of Chittagong’s Kabir Group, which is under the control of pirates, is being managed by SR Shipping Limited, a subsidiary of the group. There are 23 Bangladeshi sailors on board.
On December 5, 2010, the group’s ship, MV Jahan Mani, was hijacked by Somali pirates. After three months, the Kabir group brought the ship out with a ransom.
