Pirates yet to claim ransom
Chittagong, Dec 12 (bdnews24.com) - Owner of the hijacked ship has said that the pirates have not demanded ransom yet.
Mohammed Shahjahan, managing director of Brave Royal Shipping Management Limited that owns the ship, MV Jahan Moni, told a media briefing on Sunday that the pirates contacted them from Somalia and confirmed the safety of all 25 Bangladeshi seamen on board.
He said the pirates put him through to captain Farid Ahmed, chief engineer Matiul Mawla and his wife Roksana Guljar on telephone. They talked twice, at 2:30pm and at 7pm, he added.
Referring to the conversation with the captain, he said there were 25 pirates on board.
Shahjahan, also the chairman of Kabir Group that owns the company, said all necessary steps will be taken to ensure the release of the sailors as soon as possible and at any cost.
Manager of the company Meherul Karim said the pirate who contacted them wanted to know of the owner's thoughts.
He said all the Bangladeshis were confined in a single room on the ship's bridge.
The Somali pirates hijacked the ship from the Arabian Sea off the coast of Cochin around 3:45pm on Dec 5 and took it to Garad village in Somalia's coast around 1:30am on Saturday. Twenty-five Bangladeshi sailors and the wife of one sailor were on board.
"Its position was unchanged until Sunday noon," marine superintendent of the company Captain Mohammad Golam Mostafa said.
It was carrying 43,150 tonnes of nickel and was scheduled to go to Greece from Indonesia via Suez Canal.
Foreign minister Dipu Moni and shipping minister Shajahan Khan on Dec 7 said the government started negotiations with the Somali pirates to free the ship and its sailors.
"We'll have to wait until the ship reaches the shore," Moni had said.
Pirates yet to claim ransom | Bangladesh | bdnews24.com