'23 sailors in good health, determined to bring them back with ship'

Secretary of Maritime Affairs Unit (MAU) Rear Admiral (Retd) Khurshed Alam on Thursday said the 23 Bangladeshi sailors of the Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah, which was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, are in good health and they will not deviate from their goal to bring the ship back with the sailors safely.

Talking to reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he mentioned about the unharmed rescue of all the Bangladeshi sailors working in the previously kidnapped domestic ship 'Jahan Moni' and Malaysian ship 'Al-Bedo'.

Asked whether the pirates demanded ransom, he said if the news of ransom has been published in the media, it is imaginary.

"They (pirates) have neither demanded any ransom from us yet, nor have they contacted us about the ransom," Secretary Alam said.

He said there are risky shipping routes but the ship did not take the high risk route.

"Still the pirates were waiting or there is a difference of opinion. The pirates took over the ship and left for Somalia, anchoring near Somalia early today (Thursday). The pirates haven't contacted us yet," Alam said.

The MAU Secretary said they have previous experience in this regard.

"A ship named Jahan Moni faced such an incident in 2010. After 100 days we were able to bring back the ship with all the sailors," he added.