Contacts snapped
The fate of the Bangladeshi vessel, which was reportedly hijacked from the high seas about 80 nautical miles west of the Indian port of Cochin, remained unclear as all contacts with the ship remained snapped since 6:00 pm Sunday, shipping officials said.
The ship has 25 crew members on board.
The vessel, MV Jahan Moni, was carrying mineral ore from Indonesia to Greece when it was hijacked by pirates on Sunday afternoon, they added.
Principal officer of mercantile marine department Habibur Rahman told New Age on Monday evening that the vessel was heading towards Somalia and it was 400 nautical miles off Indian coast.
‘We tracked the movement of the ship through satellite monitoring. But we could not contact the crew despite repeated phone calls,’ he said adding that the wife of chief engineer Motiul Moula was also on board.
‘We could not collect any information about the fate of the Bangladeshi crew,’ he said.
The ship was captained by Farid Ahmed who hailed from Dhaka, he said.
‘Our shipping department sent SOS to all relevant world bodies seeking their help to rescue the vessel,’ he said.
Shipping expert Anam Chowdhury said, ‘It is still unclear who hijacked the vessel, as nobody so far contacted us though I monitored the movement of the ship from its owner’s office on Monday.’
‘But I think the attackers may loot the ship and loot it.’
When contacted, the vessel’s owner, Mohammad Shahjahan said that he at first had received information from a British navy man over phone that Somali pirates might have attacked the ship.
‘Then I talked to the captain of the ship who said the attack was initially resisted by the crew. But the communication was immediately cut off and still I could not contact the ship despite repeated calls,’ he said.
‘Since the location of the ship was near Indian coast, Indian warships could help rescue the ship,’ he said.
