'Can't wait to be home'

The Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah, which was released by Somali pirates on April 14, may reach Kutubdia anchorage with 23 sailors and crewmembers tomorrow night.

Meherul Karim, chief executive officer (CEO) of the ship's owning firm SR Shipping Limited, told The Daily Star that the ship was around 350 nautical miles away from Kutubdia around 3:50pm today.

At its current speed the ship may reach Kutubdia by tomorrow evening or night, he assumed.

After it arrives at Kutubdia, a new batch of sailors and crewmen would be sent to the ship to replace the current crew, said Karim.

All the 23 crewmembers would be brought to KSRM Lighter Jetty at Sadarghat in Chattogram by a lighter ship on the following day (Tuesday).

From there, they would be sent to their respective homes, he added.

The crewmen on board the ship are very happy as they are returning home after a long voyage. They were under captivity by the pirates for around 33 days.

Meanwhile, this correspondent contacted Tanveer Ahmad, the 4th Engineer of the ship.

In a message sent to this correspondent, Tanveer said like other crewmembers he is excited as the ship is now nearer to the country's coast.

"All the crewmen are eagerly waiting to reach home and meet their family members," Tanveer said.

Regarding release from the pirates and reaching home, the young sailor said, "I feel like I have got a second life."

The ship brought 56,000 tonnes of imported limestone from the UAE.

Some portion of the cargo would be lightered (unloaded) at Kutubdia, then the ship would come to the outer anchorage of Chattogram port for unloading the rest of the cargo, said sources.

CEO Meherul Karim further said the cargo would be unloaded as per plan of the importer.

After loading 56,000 tonnes of limestone, the ship left the UAE port of Mina Saqr in the early hours of April 30 and then went to a nearby port to refuel before heading for Chattogram.

The ship came under attack by Somali pirates on March 12, when it was carrying 55,000 tonnes of coal from the Maputo port of Mozambique to Al Hamriyah port in the UAE.

The pirates released the ship in the early hours of April 14 after reportedly receiving a ransom.