MV Abdullah: Pirates in touch with vessel owners

Foreign Minister Hasan Hamud said yesterday that the government was trying to rescue the hijacked Bangladesh-flagged cargo vessel MV Abdullah and its crew members.

He made the comment when asked about the government’s role in rescuing the hijacked ship and its hostages from Somali pirates, reports BSS.

Hasan Mahmud was talking to journalists after joining a coordination meeting on the implementation of the government’s development activities in Chattogram district at the Circuit House in the port city.

“Previously, when MV Jahan Moni was hijacked, it took 100 days to free the hostages. Now we are trying to free them [crew members] as soon as possible,” he added.

The foreign minister hoped that the government would be able to rescue the crew and the ship soon.

Meanwhile, officials of the owning firm of MV Abdullah yesterday assured family members of the crew that they are working diligently to secure the release of all the hostages very soon.

Senior officials of Kabir Group of Industries, popularly known as KSRM Group, met with family members of 23 crewmen and had iftar at a restaurant in Chattogram’s Agrabad area in the evening.

Meeting the families, the officials urged them to be patient and give them some time to complete the negotiation process successfully.

Family members of the crew joined the meeting from across the country.

The mother of a crew member, who attended the meeting with her daughter-in-law and another son, said KSRM officials told them not to worry.

“They [the officials] urged us to be patient. They assured us that they are working and doing everything in their power to rescue the crew and safely bring them back within a short period,” she said.

The father of another crew member who came from Noakhali said the officials assured the victims’ families that the crew would be rescued unharmed.

No KSRM official, however, could be reached immediately for comment. KSRM is the parent organisation of SR Shipping, which owns MV Abdullah.

The pirates who hijacked MV Abdullah remain in contact with the ship’s owners through an intermediary, and while formal talks haven’t begun, there’s growing optimism that negotiations for the crew’s release will start soon, according to sources.

Experts say that since the pirates have established contact, there is the possibility of regular communication now.

The pirates, believed to be Somalian, made their first contact through a third party on March 20, eight days after hijacking MV Abdullah on March 12.

Preferring anonymity, a senior official of KSRM Group, which owns the ship, confirmed that the pirates are in contact with them.

He, however, declined to provide any additional information at this time to ensure a smooth rescue process.

Sources have said that primary talks are reportedly taking place informally.

According to a senior master mariner who spoke with this paper, it might take some time for the negotiators to gain trust in one another.

He said that once the parties were confident, important discussions about ransom and hostage release would begin.

European Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) on Friday claimed to engage warships in the vicinity to monitor the hijacked ship.

Meanwhile, the pirates allowed some of the hostage crew members to speak to their family members through a satellite phone on Friday.

Confirming the matter, the mother of a hostage crew member told this correspondent that her son was under mental stress.

“The crew is facing a shortage of drinking water on the ship, and the pirates have instructed them to ration water,” she said, quoting her son.

The brother of another crew member was also informed about the shortage of water on the ship.

He said his brother has allergies and his condition is worsening since he has to stay in a single room with 23 crew members, mostly confined with limited access to water.

His brother also informed him about the presence of a navy ship, maintaining a distance from the MV Abdullah.

An official of the KSRM Group said he was not aware of the water shortage on the ship.

He, however, said if there was a shortage of water, it would be possible to address the issue as the pirates were in contact.

On March 12, the pirates attacked MV Abdullah around 1:30pm (Bangladesh time) when the vessel was around 500 nautical miles off the Somali coast, sailing from Maputo in Mozambique to Al Hamriyah in the UAE with 58,000 tonnes of coal.

After reaching the Somali coast on March 14, the pirates changed the ship’s location twice and anchored the ship close to Somalia’s Gadabjiran coast.