The Somali pirates, who hijacked the Bangladesh-flagged ship MV Abdullah from the Indian Ocean on Tuesday, were taking the vessel towards the Somali coast. It was around 170 nautical miles off the Somali coast on Wednesday evening, said sources.

A media outlet reported that the pirates demanded a ransom of $5 million dollar, but Kabir Group – which owned the ship – said it could not contact the pirates till Wednesday evening.

However, they were trying to contact the pirates through various international organisations which work with them, they said.

Md Mizanul Islam, media consultant of Kabir Group, said they could contact the crew members of the hijacked ship on Wednesday and they were safe and physically well at that time.

“We also contacted the high levels of the government and the international organisations familiar with the incident,” he said.

“However, there was no fruitful discussion till Wednesday evening,” said Mizanul expecting that the vessel will reach the coast on Thursday.

Usually the pirates take time to demand ransom after reaching a safe zone and they do not hurt the crew members as their intention is to realise ransom, Mizanul said.

“There is nothing to be worried about. We are trying to bring back the crew members and would use the experiences gathered during a similar incident that happened in 2010,” he said.

Asked about the lack of gunmen at the vessel, he said the vessel was moving through an area outside the risky zone, so it did not require any gunmen.

The pirates captured the vessel from an area far away from the spot where the piracy usually takes place, he added.

Mizanul also said that there was food and water for around 25 days at the vessel and the crew members would not face a crisis as the ship will be anchored soon.

Pirates captured the ship within 15-20 minutes

Officials of Kabir Group said MV Abdullah’s Captain Abdur Rashid sent them a mail claiming that a number of pirates attacked the ship at around 1:30 pm on Tuesday on their way to Al Hamriyah port of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Maputo port of Mozambique in the Indian Ocean.

However, 15 minutes later he sent another email where he informed that the pirates took full control of the ship.

The ship’s Chief Officer Mohammed Atik Ullah Khan also sent an audio message to the company officials where he said that a speed boat approached towards them at around 1:30pm on Tuesday.

Then the alarm rang in the ship and all the crew members gathered on the bridge.

In the audio message, Atik further said that around 15 to 20 other pirates also arrived there with a speedboat and a fishing trawler.

Bangladeshi flag carrier “MV Abdullah” was hijacked with 23 Bangladeshi crewmembers onboard 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 55,000 tonnes of thermal coal.