Bangladeshi ship hijack: Ransom demand not yet made

Somali pirates are yet to demand ransom for Bangladeshi ship ‘MV Abdullah’ and its crew members, the foreign ministry has clarified.
“The $5 million ransom demand is the media’s creation,” Rear Admiral (retd) Khurshid Alam, secretary of foreign ministry’s maritime affairs, said Thursday (March 14).
He requested that the media refrain from disseminating incorrect information.
Somali pirates seized MV Abdullah, owned by Chattogram’s Kabir Group and operated by SR Shipping Limited, on Tuesday (March 12) during its voyage from Mozambique to Dubai. The vessel is currently anchored at Habyo port in Somalia, firmly under the control of pirates, according to Commodore M Maqsood Alam, Director General of the Shipping Department.
The cargo ship, owned by SR Shipping Limited, a subsidiary of the renowned Kabir Group based in Chittagong, was carrying coal through the Indian Ocean.
“In the last 24 years, 300–400 ships have been hijacked. Most of them have been peacefully returned. We’re trying to get back our ship and crew following the traditional process,” Alam said.
Bangladesh’s foreign and shipping ministries are in touch with the ship’s insurance agency and ‘Somalian Pirates Reporting’ group. “We’re also trying to reach the pirates through third parties,” he said. “We still don’t know their demands.”
KSRM Group media officer Mizanul Islam said there is no scope to start negotiations for the release of the crew or the ship until the pirates make contact.
“We’re hopeful that the pirates will make contact after taking the ship to their safe area on Somalia coast. The UK-based insurer of the ship has already started taking steps to contact the pirates,” he added.