Sailors of hijacked ship unlikely to be released before Eid

Sailors of hijacked ship unlikely to be released before Eid

Chattogram, Mar 30 - The 23 Bangladeshi sailors, along with the ship MV Abdullah flying the national flag, have been held hostage for 19 days in the den of pirates in Somalia, Africa.

While the families of the 23 sailors, the ship owner, the authorities concerned and the countrymen are worried about the situation, there has been no progress in their release.

Although the ship owner and the government  are working hard, there is doubt whether they will be released before Eid. As a result, the families of the prisoners are becoming increasingly anxious.

The owning company of MV Abdullah said, they are trying to release the hostages. However, it will take time. They said that the chances of their release before Eidul Fitr are slim. However, even if they are lucky enough to be released before Eid, it could take at least a month to complete the process and bring the sailors back to the country. In this situation, the 23 sailors may not be able to celebrate Eid with their families this time.

The authorities of SR Shipping, a subsidiary of Kabir Group (KSRM), the owner of the hijacked ship, said that the news published in some media that the sailors were being rescued and brought back to the country before Eid was not correct.

KSRM Media Advisor Mizanur Islam said on Saturday afternoon, "We are working hard to release the hostages before Eid. We are talking to the pirates' representatives every day. The talks are progressing. However, we cannot say for sure whether they will be released before Eid."

"From our previous experience, we can say that even if the hostages are released before Eid, they will not be able to return home before Eid. Because there are a lot of things to do to bring them back to the country. It will take them 25/30 days to complete the work and return home. However, the truth is that it is difficult to release the sailors before Eid."

Meanwhile, it is learned that the food and water stored on the ship MV Abdullah, which has been held hostage for about three weeks, 1.5 nautical miles off the coast of Jifl in Gedoberjan district of Somalia, is running out. Before the hijacking, the ship had 200 tons of fresh water stored. Now the sailors are being rationed water.

Sources from the owner said that when MV Abdullah was hijacked, the ship had about 25 days of frozen food stored for the sailors. However, there is a lot of dry food stored for a long time.

On March 12 at 1:30 pm, the Bangladeshi flag carrier MV Abdullah, carrying 55,000 tons of coal from Mozambique to Dubai, was captured by pirates, along with 23 sailors. MV Abdullah is now anchored off the coast of Gedoberjan in Somalia.

This is the second time that a Bangladeshi ship has been hijacked by pirates. Earlier in 2010, the same company's MV Jahan Mani ship was hijacked by Somali pirates. At that time, there were 26 people on board, including 25 crew and the captain's wife. They were rescued and brought back to the country with the ship after 100 days.-UNB