Crew members are safe, efforts on to bring them back soon: Khalid

State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury has confirmed the safety of the crew members aboard the hijacked Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah, saying that the government is taking appropriate measures to ensure their safe return.
“So far, we came to know that the crew members held hostage by the pirates in the Indian Ocean are safe. No video message reached our hand that the sailors are in a troublesome situation,” he said.
While addressing a press conference over the issue at his ministry Wednesday noon, Khalid said the MV Abdullah is still under the grip of the pirates, adding that there are some organised international groups of the pirates. “We are currently talking with them to guarantee the safe return of the crew members. Our priority is ensuring the security of the 23 crew members and facilitating their safe return,” he said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is taking updates in this regard, he said, adding that the government is committed to bringing the crewmembers back home immediately.
He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is staying updated in this regard, and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to promptly bring the crew members back home. “We cannot determine the exact time it will take to ensure their safe return,” the junior minister told a questioner.
Meanwhile, Chief Officer Md Atik Ullah Khan of the hijacked Bangladesh-flagged vessel “MV Abdullah” was prepared to observe the first day of Ramadan, unlike previous occasions.
Meanwhile, Chief Officer Md Atik Ullah Khan of the hijacked vessel MV Abdullah made a phone call to his wife around 11 am on Wednesday saying that he was under life threat. “’We will be killed one after another unless we pay them (pirates) ransom,” our Chattogram correspondent reports as said by Atik’s wife.
The Bangladeshi vessel “MV Abdullah” was hijacked with 23 crewmembers aboard by armed Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday afternoon.
The bulk carrier of SR Shipping, a concern of Kabir Group, was on its way to Al Hamriyah Port in Dubai from Maputo Port in Mozambique. It was carrying some 58,000 tonnes of thermal coal.
Of 23 crewmembers, 11 are from Chattogram and the rest are from different parts of the country.