Ship seized by Somali pirates arrives in UAE; all 23 sailors sound physically, mentally

All 23 Bangladeshi sailors who were taken hostage by the Somali pirates and arrived in Dubai on Sunday are in good physical and psychological condition, officials said on Monday.

The MV Abdullah ship run by Bangladeshi firm KSRM was carrying coal from South Africa to Dubai when it was seized by the Somali pirates. It was released on April 14.

Senior Bangladesh officials and the company’s officials were scheduled to meet the crew later on Monday as the ship was awaiting anchorage at the port.

BM Jamal Hossain, the consul general of Bangladesh in Dubai and Northern Emirates, told Khaleej Times that MV Abdullah safely arrived in UAE waters and was anchored in the deep sea on Monday morning.

“We expect in a few hours today (Monday) to see the crew. The ship would anchor and then we would be able to see the crew onboard. All the crew members are sound mentally and physically. The ship arrived safely without suffering any casualty,” said Hossain.

The Bangladeshi missions and KSRM have also arranged a medical team to check on the health of the sailors upon arrival in UAE.

Hossain added that the missions would arrange visa and flight if any of the 23 crew members wished to fly to the home country to see his loved ones.

Hossain revealed that they’re closely coordinating with the port authorities in the UAE who are willing to extend any kind of support that is required for the sailors.

Shahriar Jahan, deputy managing director of KSRM, said the crew’s spirits are very high.

“They have already given consent that they want to be with the ship and carry forward to the next voyage. However, the ship might be sailing to Bangladesh for some repair work. The government is waiting for the ship’s arrival,” said Jahan.

Echoing Hossain’s statement, Jahan added sailors could go to Bangladesh with the ship or a flight could be booked for those who want to go to the home country.

KSRM currently owns and operates 25 ships. This is the second instance that the KSRM ship was seized by the pirates.

“We had trust in insurers that they would take care of the case as they have a very professional team that was engaged in negotiations with pirates for the release of sailors. In just 31 days, we were able to get our ship back,” he said.

“Since it was a coal cargo, so we had a huge concern about inflammability. But thank God, nothing happened. They allowed the crews to do a regular check on the cargo so that the oxygen level didn’t increase too much which could lead to fire breaking out on the ship. The pirates didn’t misbehave with the crew and also fed them well. The luck was on our side,” he added.




Source: Khaleej Times

Image: Aljazeera