CHATTOGRAM, Apr 15: The hijacked Bangladeshi flag carrier MV Abdullah and 23 sailors on board have been freed on Sunday (April14) midnight after 33 days since the Somali pirates seized the ship near Somali coast.
The ship is now heading to the Port of United Arab Emirates and is expected to reach there on April 20 next, according to Mijanul Islam Media Spokesman of KSRM Group.
According to the owner sources, the Somali pirates released the vessel at around 2 am on Sunday.
On arrival at the port of UAE, the owners will decide to bring back the sailors home.
"The sailors who are interested to go back home will be flown to Bangladesh," Mijan said.
"Those who are interested to stay with the ship, will remain on board," he said.
As a result, the sailors may be back home on April 24.
Meanwhile, a Somali news outlet reported that MV Abdullah was released for $5 million (Tk 55 crore). When asked how much ransom was paid to the Somali pirates, the owner side declined to make any comment during the talks with the local journalists on Sunday afternoon.
The Bangladesh government and the Kabir Group, the owners of the vessel, have not confirmed the payment of a ransom.
The information was provided at a press conference held in Agrabad by members of SR Shipping, the Kabir Group subsidiary that owns the vessel, on Sunday.
The ship will reach the UAE on Friday, confirmed SR Shipping Deputy Managing Director Shahriar Hassan Rahat.
"There, once all formalities are complete, the sailors will head back home after four to five days by plane or ship. We have not decided whether they will return by air or sea. The ship will return to Chattogram once the coal is released."
"The sailors will decide for themselves how they want to return home," said SR Shipping CEO Mehrul Karim.
Rahat thanked the prime minister, the government, the foreign minister, and education minister for their cooperation in helping free the hostages.
Earlier, on March 12 at 1:30 pm Bangladesh time, Somali pirates boarded and took control of the MV Abdullah while it was en route from the port of Maputo, Mozambique, to the United Arab Emirates. The ship was carrying 55,000 tonnes of coal.
Nine days after the ship was hijacked, the pirates contacted the ship owners group to demand ransom. There were then negotiations at various levels. The ships owner had hinted that the sailors would be released this month.
SR Shipping is one of the largest shipping companies in the country. They operate ocean-going merchant ships. The bulk carrier MV Abdullah, with a deadweight tonnage (DWT) of 45,653 tonnes, has an overall length (LOA) of 185.74 metres and a width of 30.4 metres.
KSRM Group, the owner of MV Abdullah, has claimed in a press conference that the ship and its 23 crew members were released through negotiations with the pirates, using the experience of the 2011 hostage situation involving their ship "Jahan Moni".
"Our other ship Jahan Moni was hijacked in 2011. It took us a long time to rescue the ship because we lacked experience. However, using that experience, we were able to quickly rescue MV Abdullah this time," said Meherul Karim, CEO of KSRM Group, at a press conference held at the companys office at 12:00 pm in Chattograms citys Agrabad Goasail Danga on Sunday.
He added that all the sailors and crew of the ship are safe and sound. No one was harmed. However, when asked about the ransom, Meherul Karim declined to comment.
Describing the process of rescuing the ship, Meherul said, "We were constantly tracking the ships position since it was hijacked. We were monitoring where it was being taken from time to time. A few days after the hostage-taking, one of the pirates who could speak English started contacting us. We also started communicating from our side, following all international protocols. This is how MV Abdullah was released after a successful month-long communication."
He added that, "Two days ago, we took videos of each crew member of our ship to confirm their safety. All the rules were followed. There were 65 pirates on the ship. On Saturday around 3 am, the ships captain informed me that the pirates had disembarked from the ship in a speedboat."
When journalists asked the KSRM CEO about the ransom, he said, "I apologise. I can tell you anything about any ransom. We have an agreement with everyone on this issue. I can go out of the agreement."
Shahariar Jahan Rahat, Deputy Managing Director of KSRM Group, said at the press conference, "We have to keep some things confidential. We cannot promote piracy." He added that if the amount of ransom money is disclosed, it will be legitimized.
Earlier on Sunday, State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said at a press conference that the news and pictures being circulated about ransom are not true. The sailors were released through extensive international pressure and negotiations. It may take 15 to 20 days for them to return.
The hijack happened about 600 nautical miles east of Somalias capital Mogadishu.
Somali pirates caused chaos in the waters off the countrys long coastline from about 2008 to 2018. They had been dormant until late last year when pirate activity started to pick up again.
Maritime sources say pirates may be encouraged by a relaxation of security or may be taking advantage of the chaos caused by attacks on shipping by Yemens Iran-aligned Houthi group while war rages in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Holding a green and red flag, MV Abdullah Chief Officer Atik Ullah Khan has sent a message of love to Bangladesh after he and his crew were freed from captivity.
A warship of the European Union naval force EUNAVFORs Operation ATALANTA accompanied the MV Abdullah.
The final photograph of the set showed EU navy commandos next to the MV Abdullah sailors.
Following its release, the MV Abdullah set off from Somalia for Dubai, according to the ships owners SR Shipping.
In his Facebook post, Khan thanked SR Shipping for its unbelievable effort in freeing the vessel and the crew, while expressing gratitude for the friends, family, and well-wishers who had prayed for their safe return.
"Thank you EUNAVFOR Operation ATALANTA. Thank you, Bangladesh. Love you and missing you Bangladesh," he wrote.
At least eight pirates have reportedly been arrested on the east coast of Puntland, a Federal state in north-eastern Somalia.
Somalia had struggled with piracy in the last three months with the pirates working closely with the Al-Shabaab group, according to multiple sources in the country. There have been deliberate efforts to arrest and prosecute the pirates.
A high-ranking officer from Puntland Police Force informed Garowe Online that they have apprehended eight members of the pirate group holding the Bangladesh-flagged ship MV Abdullah. It has not been confirmed whether the ransom money paid to the pirates was recovered during the operation.
"The practice of paying ransoms could potentially encourage more pirate attacks," a Puntland police officer, who wished to remain anonymous, told Garowe Online. The coastline of Puntland has been the target of the pirates for a while.
