State minister for Shipping, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said that the government is determined to bring back the sailors at any cost. He said this at a press conference on Wednesday (March 13) afternoon. The state minister said, "The Bangladeshi ship is still under the control of Somalian pirates. All 23 sailors are safe. Discussions are underway to bring them back with speedy recovery." Earlier, a Bangladeshi ship named 'MV Abdullah' was caught by pirates in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday afternoon. Somali pirates took control of the ship on its way to the United Arab Emirates with 55,000 tons of coal. Then 23 Bangladeshi sailors on the ship were taken hostage.

A Bangladeshi-flagged ship named 'MV Abdullah' has been caught by pirates in the Indian Ocean. Pirates captured 23 sailors and crew hostage on the ship.  KSRM Group, the owner of the ship came to know about the ship being caught by pirates at 1pm on Tuesday.  However, KSRM Group said that all the members of sailors and crew hostage are safe.  The ship 'MV Abdullah' was previously known as 'Golden Hawk'  which was built in 2016, the 190 metre long ship was added to KSRM Group's fleet last year. After that, the ship was transporting general goods.  

A Thai navy vessel sank off the southeastern coast after running into strong winds. Authorities said about 75 out of the 106 personnel have been found. According to a navy spokesperson, the HTMS Sukhothai ran into strong winds and tides while patrolling the Gulf of Thailand, roughly 20 nautical miles (32 kilometers) from Bang Saphan pier in southern Prachuap Khiri Khan Sunday night. Seawater flowed into the vessel, causing it to sink. Rescue underway "We are still looking for 31 missing. The ship's operating systems stopped working, causing the ship to lose control," said navy spokesperson Admiral Pogkrong Montradpalin, adding that the ship sank shortly after midnight. The vessel's electronic system was damaged, and a rescue mission was launched around 7 a.m. local time (0000 UTC). The navy shared pictures showing the ship heeling to one side. So far, 75 of 106 personnel have been rescued from the waters using two Seahawk helicopters with mobile pumping machines, two frigates and one amphibious ship. About 11 of them were admitted to the Bang Saphan hospital. Southern Thailand has been experiencing frequent storms and flooding recently. Ships had been warned to stay ashore.

The 28 sailors of a Bangladeshi ship named 'Banglar Samriddhi' that stranded in Ukraine amid the armed conflict have been moved to safer place Thursday, foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen said.   He revealed the latest development of the ship, that came under a missile attack on Wednesday leaving one Bangladeshi sailor death, to reporters at foreign ministry in Dhaka this afternoon.   The foreign ministry through Bangladesh embassy in Poland arranged the evacuation of the stranded sailors with the support of local authority.   The ministry has the plan to evacuate the ship crews a well as take the dead body of sailor Hadisur Rahman to any bordering country from Ukraine, foreign ministry official said.   Meanwhile, Russia today said it regretted the death of a sailor onboard a Bangladeshi ship in Ukraine amid the armed conflict there and assured Dhaka of making "every effort" to ensure the ship's safe departure of the vessel. "We express deep condolences to the near and dear ones of the deceased," the Russian embassy said in a statement.   Without elaboration, the statement said the "circumstances of the incident are being established" as Bangladeshi sailor Hadisur Rahman, the third engineer of MV Banglar Samriddhi, was killed as the vessel was anchored at Ukraine's Olvia Port.   But it claimed that Russia's armed forces command "relying on the objective monitoring data, has repeatedly stated that, during the retreat, the Ukrainian nationalists open indiscriminate fire and deliberately capture hostages, use them as a 'human shield', resorting to the well-known terrorists' tactic".   Earlier, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) executive director Dr Pijush Dutta told media that they were working relentlessly to rescue the sailors. He added that they were also scrutinizing the international maritime laws to negotiate about their safe departure.    Dutta said Hadisur Rahman was killed in a missile attack, which immediately sparked a fire on the ship at the Ukrainian port at 9:25 pm last night but the remaining 28 crew members of the ship were safe and managed to douse the blaze immediately.   Hadisur Rahman was working as the third engineer of the ship since 2018 after graduating from Bangladesh Marine Academy.    The official said the ship was scheduled to move out of the port before the attack, but could not leave it due to delay in getting port authorities clearance and got stranded amid halted port operations.   He said BSC was satisfied with the performance of the ill-fated Bangladeshi flagged carrier vessel's captain and crew as they tried their best to reduce the damage risking their lives. Source: BSS AH

    Indian authority has called for the immediate release of seven Indian crew members on board a United Arab Emirates-flagged cargo vessel that was seized by Houthis off the port of Hodeidah in Yemen. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador TS Tirumurti, speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on Yemen on Wednesday, expressed grave concern over seizure and detention of UAE vessel Rawabi. Mr Tirumurti tweeted that he "called for immediate release of 7 Indian crew members, expressed deep concern about their safety & well-being & that Houthis should ensure their safety till release." India also calls upon all parties to the conflict to immediately cease fighting, de-escalate the situation and engage unconditionally with the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen. The External Affairs Ministry said Tuesday that all seven Indian sailors on board a United Arab Emirates-flagged cargo vessel that was seized by Houthis off the port of Hodeidah in Yemen are safe and the government is making all efforts to secure their early release. Mr Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson in the ministry, said India has been closely monitoring developments following the seizure of the UAE flagged ship Rwabee by the Houthis on January 2. Spokesperson said, "We also understand from the company and other sources that all Indian crew members are safe. The government of India is making all efforts to secure their early release,". The Houthi rebels have a strong presence in parts of Yemen. "We are in touch with the company operating the ship and have been informed that out of the 11 crew members on board the ship, seven are from India," Mr Arindam Bagchi said while replying to a media query on the issue. He also added, "We urge the Houthis to ensure the safety and well-being of the crew members and release them immediately. India is concerned at the recent intensification of fighting in Yemen and hopes that all parties will come to the negotiating table to find a peaceful resolution to the Yemen issue." Source : NDTV

Seventeen Chinese sailors have been stranded on a scrap ship at Sitakunda coastal area in Chattogram for the last two days. The ship was taken to Lalbeg Shipyard at Sonaichhari on the coast on Saturday afternoon for breaking but no sailor was allowed to come down as panic is prevailing in the area due to coronavirus outbreak in China. But he agency owner and importer of the ship claimed that there is no existence of coronavirus in the body of those 17 sailors. In this regard Sitakunda Upazila Nirbahi Officer Milton Roy told Rtv online that there are rules for providing sailors’ information but the yard authority did not inform. So he is unaware about the matter. According to the information gathered, the weight of the Japan flag career ‘Uni Harvest’ cargo ship is 9 thousand metric tons. It was brought from China for breaking. The ship was anchored in the yard on the coast. The other sailors came out of the ship but those 17 sailors remained stranded. After confirming their air tickets they will be sent back to their country. AH