A cargo ship under flag Bangladesh captured by pirates. It was sailing off the coast of Somalia and the 23 crew members are being held hostage, the ship’s owning company announced.
The M/V Abdullah had departed from Maputo, Mozambique carrying 55,000 tonnes of coal to the United Arab Emirates when it was attacked at noon.
“A group of 15-20 Somali pirates seized the ship,” said Mehrul Karim, chief executive of KSRM, which owns the ship.
The company also released an audio message from a crew member in which gunmen aboard two speedboats approached and opened fire on the freighter. Currently, Karim assured that the 23 sailors – all Bangladeshi nationals – are in good health.
The ship was struck about 550 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia.
It is recalled that since December there were strong fears of a resurgence of pirate raids off the coast of Somalia, as there was concern that they would attempt to take advantage of the disruption caused by Yemen’s Houthis with their attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf Aden.
Source: RES-MPE
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