About a month after the kidnapping, 23 Bangladeshi sailors of MV Abdullah, held hostage by Somali pirates, are going to be released. After release, they will be brought back to their country by air. At the same time, another group of sailors has been kept ready to reach the coal-carrying ship MV Abdullah in Dubai. After round of negotiations with the pirates, the ship with 23 sailors is being brought back with their ransom.

English-speaking interpreters have already been brought on board to talk about the ransom of ships and sailors captured by pirates. Through him, the owner of the ship negotiated with the Kabir Group and finalized the ransom. As a result, 23 sailors of the Bangladeshi-owned ship MV Abdullah are going to be released at any moment.

It is learned that the pirates, satisfied with the ransom negotiations, are giving the sailors the opportunity to stay in the cabin as well as work on the ship from Wednesday. Spokesperson of Kabir Group, Mizanul Islam, said that they want to bring back the sailors before Eid.

He also said that 23 sailors will be brought to Bangladesh by air once they are freed from the pirates. Kabir Steel, the owner of the ship, has already prepared another team of 23 sailors to deliver the 55,000 metric tons of coal to the destination of Dubai. They will take responsibility for MV Abdullah again.

Marine experts feel that there is no alternative to paying a ransom to bring back the sailors unharmed, just as pressure was put on the Somali pirates.


Somali pirates took control of the ship on March 12 at 1.30 pm Bangladesh time on its way to the United Arab Emirates from Maputo port in Mozambique. The vessel is owned by SR Shipping Limited, a subsidiary of Kabir Group of Chittagong. The cargo ship was en route to Al-Hamriya port in the United Arab Emirates from Mozambique via the Indian Ocean with coal. The destination was Dubai.


Earlier, in 2010, MV Jahan Mani, a ship owned by the same group, was ransomed by the group three months after it was hijacked. Again there are precedents of a ship being freed after six to eight months. From this point of view, the ransom was discussed very quickly. As such, it is expected that everyone will be released before Eid.