Staff Reporter :
Foreign Ministry said that they have been progress in rescuing the 23 crew members of MV Abdullah which had been hijacked by Somali pirates on March 12.
“Our aim is to rescue the crew members unharmed. At the same time we want to rescue the ship. I just want to say that we have advanced much,” Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud said on Thursday.
While talking to the journalists in his ministry on Thursday, he said that there has been progress in the government’s efforts to free the Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah carrying 55,000 tonnes of coal.
The minister further said that they are in contact and making multifaceted efforts to rescue the 23 crew members.
Asked about the reported shortfall of food and water, Hasan Mahmud said that food shortage has never happened in the past when ships are hijacked.
“Hopefully it won’t happen in this case either,” he said.
Though the European Union Navy and the Indian Navy wanted to carry out operation to recover the Bangladeshi ship, but no consent was given by the Bangladeshi authorities.
The owners of the hijacked cargo vessel MV Abdullah have declined a rescue operation proposal from the European Union.
The owners of the ship said that they are ready to pay the ransom and want to get back all the crew members unharmed.
“The safety of our crew members is our top priority. We couldn’t afford to risk the lives of our sailors, so we declined the proposal for a rescue operation,” Meherul Karim, Chief Executive Officer of SR Shipping told the media earlier.
“Conducting a military operation always carries the risk of casualties on board. Given that the ship owner has agreed to pay the ransom, there was no need for such action,” Rear Admiral (retd) Khorshed Alam, secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ maritime said earlier.
The government of Bangladesh said that their efforts are on to rescue the crew members and the ship unhurt.
The MV Abdullah was sailing from Mozambique’s capital Maputo to the United Arab Emirates with a cargo of 55,000 tonnes of coal when Somali pirates attacked and seized it on the evening of March 12, taking 23 of its crew members hostage.
