MV Abdullah returns home

Bangladeshi flag carrier MV Abdullah, which was recently freed from the captivity of Somali pirates, has returned home today (13 May) with 23 sailors and crew members.

"The ship has anchored at Kutubdia at 6:00pm," the ship's captain Abdur Rashid told The Business Standard in an audio message this evening.

All crew members are safe and both the cargo and ship are in good condition, said Meherul Karim, chief executive officer of KSRM Group which owns the ship.

The sailors will be transported to Chittagong Port in a lighter ship between 3:00pm and 4:00pm tomorrow (14 May), he said, adding that they will then head to their homes.

Meherul Karim mentioned that the Chattogram Port Authority has indicated that the sailors are expected to be brought to the coast via NCT 1 jetty. 

"However, we planned to bring them through the lighter jetty at Sadarghat. As of this evening, no final decision has been made regarding this matter," he added.

According to Kabir Group, another team of 23 sailors departed from Chattogram towards Kutubdia anchorage area around 4:00 pm today. They boarded on a lighter vessel named MV Jahan Moni-3. The upcoming operations of MV Abdullah will be managed by this new team of sailors.

On 12 March, MV Abdullah, carrying 55,000 tonnes of coal from Mozambique to Dubai, was captured by Somali pirates, along with 23 sailors.

After paying a ransom to the pirates, MV Abdullah was freed on 14 April.

This is the second time that a Bangladeshi ship has been hijacked by pirates. Earlier in 2010, the same company's MV Jahan Mani ship was hijacked by Somali pirates. At that time, there were 26 people on board, including  25 crew and the captain's wife. They were rescued and brought back to the country with the ship after 100 days.