Crew of Banglar Samriddhi moved to safety: Shahriar Alam

All the Bangladeshi crew members stranded on Banglar Samriddhi in Ukraine have been moved to safety, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam confirmed in a video post today.

"You all know that a third engineer died onboard a vessel, Banglar Samriddhi, after it came under a "missile" attack yesterday at a port in Ukraine. The government expresses deep shock and condolences to the family. A delegation of the government and Awami League has visited the family," said State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam, adding that the Bangladeshi ambassador in Poland conveyed the development.

"We have moved the crew members from the ship to a safe zone in Poland. We are trying to move them to Warsaw, and with the help of the shipping ministry, we will send them to Bangladesh, along with the body of Hasidur Rahman," he added.

Confirming the matter, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) Executive Director (Commercial) Pijush Dutta told The Daily Star that the ship was abandoned and all 28 crew members along with the body of the deceased sailor were taken to the shore by a tugboat with the help of the Ukrainian port authority and the ship's local agent.

The crew members were already taken to a safe bunker, he added. The evacuation was done with the direct initiative of the foreign ministry along with the help of the Bangladeshi ambassador in Poland, he informed. A tugboat was sent to the vessel around 7:00 pm (Bangladesh time) and all the sailors got on board the tugboat around 7:30 pm, said a BSC official wishing to be anonymous.

There is a plan to take the sailors to neighbouring Moldova, he added.

Rokasana Khandoker, the mother of stranded deck cadet Fariatul Jannat Tuli, told The Daily Star that she managed to talk with the master of the ship through WhatsApp around 7 pm and the master informed her that a tugboat arrived to take them to the shore.