Seven Bangladeshi crew members, who are being held hostages in Somalia by pirates, are alive and have now been shifted to another hijacked fishing vessel, the Foreign Ministry informed on Saturday. “It has been primarily confirmed through Maritime Piracy and Humanitarian Response Programme (MPHRP) based in London, quoting sources in the UN Office for Somalia, Nairobi, that the seven Bangladeshi crews are alive and have now been shifted to another hijacked fishing vessel by the pirates,” said a press statement issued by the Ministry to provide a clarification about the seven abducted Bangladeshi crews of the MV Albedo.
A Malaysian flag vessel, MV Albedo reportedly sank on July 7 off the coast of Somalia. Seven Bangladesh nationals/crews, who were held hostages, were on board before the ship sank.
According to media reports, the ship was seized by Somali pirates in November, 2010.
The Ministry remained pro-actively engaged with all concerned, both at home and abroad, since the abduction of seven Bangladeshi crews, along with crews from India, Sri Lanka, Iran and Pakistan, said the statement.
Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni took up the matter as a priority issue and gave instructions to all concerned for speedy and safe release of the Bangladeshi crews.
She sought all-out support of the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
In addition to the series of steps taken by the Ministry to get them released, it has been continuously maintaining communications through informal channels with relevant authorities including MPHRP.
About payment of ransom, the press statement said that as a matter of principle, no government including the government of Bangladesh could pay ransom to any such case of piracy.
Concerned authorities in Malaysia were approached as the ship owner is a Malaysian national. The High Commissioner of Malaysia in Dhaka was also called at the Ministry and she was requested to use their good offices. The Ministry also sought the support of the MPHRP so that they can make efforts to convince the Malaysian Government in this regard.
Following a series of meetings and interactions with the Malaysian side, the Malaysian authorities informed that they were unable to use their good offices as the Malaysian owner had already abandoned the ship.
A team from the MPHRP was also invited to Bangladesh to share their perspective to get the crews released in particular and to familiarize with possible strategies to meet such emergencies, in general. On the Ministry’s initiative, the team members also visited the family members of the abducted crews. Furthermore, following Ministry’s request, the organization has been paying US$ 200 dollar per month to four needy families of the hostages.
The issue being extremely sensitive and having a humanitarian aspect, Ministry of Foreign Affairs is keeping close contacts, and liaising with all concerned for the speedy release and safe return of Bangladeshi crews to the country.
-With The Independent input
