Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Year : 2, Issue : 11
A Bangladeshi flag carrier ocean-going vessel was hijacked by Somalian pirates in the Indian Ocean near Somalia on Tuesday.
According to the ship’s owners the vessel, named the MV Abdullah, had 23 Bangladeshi sailors on board and all of them have been taken hostage. It was heading from Dubai to Mozambique.
The ship was last reported to be 500 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia. “Around one hundred armed pirates on small boats surrounded the ship, boarded it and took control,” said a sailor on the ship. “However, the pirates did not attack any sailors.”
Bangladeshi sailors have been locked in a cabin and the ship is being taken towards the coast of Somalia with the captain, he added.
The pirates have not made any demands till now. Meanwhile, the ship’s owner has said that measures are being taken to get the ship and its sailors back.
Earlier in 2010, ‘MV Jahan Moni’ was also hijacked by Somali pirates. The ship was released with 26 sailors after three months.
In the meantime, over the past few decades, Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean have grown increasingly careless.
