The Indian Navy has released a picture of the Bangladeshi ship ‘MV Abdullah’ held hostage by Somali pirates. The photo shows four Somali pirates patrolling the ship.
The image was released on Friday by the Indian Navy spokesperson’s X (formerly Twitter) account. The patrolling pirates all carry heavy weapons.
According to the post, an Indian warship and a long-range maritime patrol aircraft are stationed in the vicinity to assist the Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah, held hostage by Somali pirates.
The Indian Navy said in a statement on Friday that the Indian Navy deployed the Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft LRMP P-81 on Tuesday (March 12) after receiving information about the hijacking of the MV Abdullah.
Later the Indian Navy deployed a warship. The warship began monitoring the hostage vessel on Thursday (March 14). That morning, the Indian warship successfully intercepted the Bangladeshi vessel MV Abdullah.
Later, the warship remained close to MV Abdullah until it reached Somalia’s territorial waters to ensure the safety of the hijacked crew members (Bangladeshi nationals).
Meanwhile, the EU Navy is also following the hostage Bangladeshi ship as part of Operation Atlanta. On Friday morning, EU navies said visual information they had collected showed that at least 12 pirates were currently on board the vessel.
EU navies say Somali pirates seized the Maltese-flagged bulk cargo ship Rouen in December. They may have used the Maltese vessel to seize a Bangladeshi-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Somalia three days ago.
It is to be noted that the Bangladeshi ship named ‘MV Abdullah’ was captured by pirates in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday (March 12) afternoon. Somali pirates took control of the ship en route to the United Arab Emirates. Then the pirates took 23 Bangladeshi sailors hostage
