Chairman of the Shippers Council of Bangladesh, Md Rezaul Karim expressed great concern over the hijacking of Bangladeshi-owned ship MV Abdullah with 23 sailors by Somali pirates on March 12.
The incident took place while on its way from the African country of Mozambique to Abu Dhabi in the Middle East.
A council press release read, “Ensuring the safety and security of our import-export business and ships is imperative. These robberies have made the lives of our seafarers precarious as well as caused a major disruption in our import-export business.
“As far as we understood, our slow and weak ship was targeted by the pirates and besides there were no armed security guards and water cannons on the ship as ‘safeguards.’ It appears that the pirates took advantage of the situation” it said.
In this regard, he strongly demanded the government and the concerned ship owners to rescue 23 sailors and bring them back safely.
“Since the bulk of Bangladesh’s trade is organised through this risky route, it is very important to ensure the safety and security of ships” release added.
He called upon the Bangladesh Ministry of Shipping, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, foreign embassies and related international organisations to take necessary measures in this regard.
