MV Abdullah finally sails for Bangladesh
Chattogram Correspondent
The Bangladeshi flag carrier MV Abdullah finally started its journey for home after loading limestone at Mina Saqr port of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday early hours.
Mizanul Islam, media adviser to Kabir Group which owns the vessel, said the vessel loaded 56,000 tonnes of limestone from the Mina Saqr port and started for Chattogram in the early hours.
It will take about two weeks to reach the Chattogram port, he said.
The vessel will also anchor at Fujairah port of the UAE for bunkering on its way, Mizanul added.
MV Abdullah left the Al Hamriyah port around 5:30pm (local time) on Saturday and took berth at the Mina Saqr port on the following morning.
Earlier, the vessel reached the Al Hamriyah Port on 21 April.
On 12 March, the vessel with 23 Bangladeshi crew members was hijacked by armed Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. The bulk carrier was en route from Maputo Port in Mozambique to the Al Hamriyah Port, carrying 55,000 tonnes of thermal coal.
Pirates released the ship and crew in the early hours of 14 April, after 33 days of captivity. It reached the Al Hamriyah port after crossing some 1,450 nautical miles from a place near the Somali coast.
Following the release, the pirates claimed that they released the hijacked ship after they were paid a $5 million ransom.
However, the KSRM Group refused to say anything about the ransom payment.
