Chattogram Correspondent

None of the family members of Chief Officer Md Atik Ullah Khan of the hijacked Bangladesh-flagged vessel “MV Abdullah” was prepared to observe the first day of Ramadan, unlike previous occasions.

Her pregnant wife received a phone call from the mariner's husband at 11 am. Atik told her with an unusual voice seeking dua that communication would remain snapped for some days.

Sensing something wrong, the wife Mina Azmin talked to the wife of another crew onboard. The wife of the crew first informed her about the matter of the pirates’ attack on the vessel.

Mina had been fainted since hearing the news and needed to be taken to hospital for treatment.

Five minutes after Iftar on Tuesday, Atik made a phone call and her daughter picked up the phone.

He asked the daughter to tell her mother to pray for them. Then he sent a voice message of 24 seconds.

Atiq, with a heavy heart, in the message said “Convey this message to everyone. Mobiles are being taken away from us. The final thing is that if money is not given here, we will be killed one by one. We will be released as soon as the money will be given to them. Spread this message everywhere.”

Atiq’s family including his wife, three daughters, mother and younger brother resides at a flat in the city’s Nandan Kanon area.

While talking to the Daily Sun at the residence on Wednesday, his sexagenarian mother Shahnur Akter said they could contact her son after Iftar on Tuesday.

Inside a cabin, some 50 armed pirates kept them encircled. They were being taken toward the Somali coast. It will take some two and a half days to reach the destination. He sought dua from all, said Shahnur, breaking into tears.

Mentionable, the Bangladeshi vessel “MV Abdullah” was hijacked with 23 Bangladeshi crewmembers aboard by armed Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday afternoon.

The bulk carrier of SR Shipping, a concern of Kabir Group, was on its way to Al Hamriyah Port in Dubai from Maputo Port in Mozambique. It was carrying some 58,000 tonnes of thermal coal.

Of 23 crewmembers, 11 are from Chattogram and the rest are from different parts of the country.

The crewmembers onboard include Captain Mohammad Abdur Rashid, Chief Officer Mohammed Atik Ullah Khan, Second Officer Mojaherul Islam Chowdhury, Third Officer Md Tarequl Islam, Deck Cadet Md Sabbir Hossain, Chief Engineer ASM Saiduzzaman, Second Engineer Md Toufiqul Islam, Third Engineer Md Rokan Uddin, Fourth Engineer Tanveer Ahmad, Engine Cadet Ayub Khan, Electrician Ibrahim Khalil Ullah, Able-bodied Seamen Md Anwarul Haque, Md Asifur Rahman, Seaman Sazzad Hossain, Ordinary Seamen S Joy Mahmud, Md Najmul Haque, Oiler Ainul Haque, Oiler Mohammed Shamsuddin, Oiler Md Ali Hossain, Fireman Mosharaf Hossain Sakil, Chief Cook Md Shafiqul Islam, General Steward Md Noor Uddin, and Fitter Md Saleh Ahmed.

The vessel earlier known as “Golden Hawk” was brought by the Kabir Group which operates 23 vessels in the international routes, said sources.

Earlier on 5 December 2010, Somali pirates hijacked another vessel, the “MV Jahan Moni”, belonging to the same company. After 99 days in captivity, the pirates released the vessel along with its 25 crew members and the wife of the chief engineer, Matiul Mawla.

The owning authority and the government had denied the matter of handing over the ransom for the release then.

The ship was carrying 43,150 tonnes of nickel from Indonesia. The crewmembers returned Chattogram on 21 March 2011 ending the sleepless nights of the dearer ones.

After releasing from the Somali coast, the ship reached Port Salalah in Oman with the crewmembers on 19 March. Later, it went to Greece to offload the nickel on 12 April and started for Chattogram from Brazil with sugar on 29 June, according to sources.