Foreign Ministry: Hijacked ship anchored, pirates silent on demands

Pirates who hijacked the Bangladesh-flagged vessel MV Abdullah in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday have yet to make any contact for ransom.

The ship was not moving and remained anchored off the Somalian coast, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary (Maritime Affairs Unit) Rear Admiral (Retd) Md Khurshed Alam said at a press briefing at the ministry on Thursday.

He said the foreign ministry was in regular contact with the third parties concerned, including insurance companies.

"Those who need to be contacted to bring it back have already been contacted. Hopefully, the sailors and the ship can be brought back," he said, adding that in a previous similar incident, it had taken 100 days to take back control of the hijacked ship.

Directorate of Shipping chief Commodore Mohammad Maksud Alam, following an inter-ministerial meeting at the foreign ministry, said: “We are expecting those who hijacked the ship to contact the authorities concerned or the owners of the ship at some point."

"Then we will strategize how to enter negotiations or something with them. For now, our main concern is that those on board the ship are safe."

When asked about when and where the ship was hijacked, he said the exact place could not be confirmed yet.

"It is in their sea area, which appears to be 20 miles off their coast. The ship is not moving now; it is anchored," he said.

In response to a question about the next course of action, he said it depended on how the hijackers communicated and what they communicated.

MV Abdullah, with 23 crew members and carrying coal, was en route to the UAE from Mozambique when it fell into the hands of pirates in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday.