‘We are hostages in the hands of Somali pirates. But we are all safe and sound. Keep us in your prayers.’ The ship’s sailor Asifur Rahman posted this on his Facebook around 7 pm on Tuesday. In this post, he shared a few pictures and a 16-second video.
The pictures and videos show the pirates boarding the ship from the sea. Earlier on Tuesday (March 12) around 1:30 PM, the Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah was captured by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. Officials of Kabir Group-owned SR Shipping came to know the news in the afternoon.
Saiduzzaman, chief engineer of the MV Abdullah ship, sent a voice message to the shipping officials this evening. He said, ‘We are fine. All our mobiles are being taken away by them (pirates). We are trying to keep a mobile. There is WiFi on board. I requested them to keep the wifi on.
Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officers Association (BMMOA) general secretary of the organization of marine officers. Shakhawat Hossain confirmed this information.
He told the Bangla Tribune that the sailors and officials on the ship were contacted till 7 pm Bangladesh time. Then the pirates took their mobiles. We are worried and apprehensive about the 23 sailors and officers on board. We will be anxious until we bring them back to us.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officers Association has identified four of the 23 people on board. They are the master of MV Abdullah Mohammad Abdur Rashid, the chief officer. Atiqullah Khan, third officers. Tarekul Islam and fourth engineer Tanveer Ahmed.
General Secretary of Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officers Association. According to the notification sent to the media signed by Sakhawat Hossain, the ship MV Abdullah of the Bangladeshi shipping company SR Shipping Limited was attacked by pirates 450 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia on its way to the United Arab Emirates with coal from the African country of Mozambique.
There are a total of 23 Bangladeshi sailors and officers on the ship. The pirates take full control of the ship. We have spoken with the ship owner authorities.
They told us that the sailors were able to communicate with the owners and their families some time after the pirates took control of the ship. Everyone is healthy.
The ship is believed to have been attacked by Somali pirates. They are taking the ship to a port in Somalia. Several hours have passed but till now there has been no communication from the pirates with the ship owner. No claim was even made.
Mizanul Islam, media advisor of SR Shipping, said the vessel was en route to the United Arab Emirates with coal from Mozambique when it fell into the hands of pirates in the Indian Ocean. Somali pirates took control of the ship. There are 23 sailors and officers. They are safe.