MV Abdullah sailors set for mid-May return

CHATTOGRAM, Apr 28: The Bangladeshi-flagged MV Abdullah was scheduled to depart the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday afternoon (local time) for Chattogram port, carrying its 23 Bangladeshi crew members.

The vessel and its crew are expected to reach Chattogram port by mid-May, according to Meherul Karim, CEO of the ship's owner KSRM Group.

With the latest development, families of seafarers are now counting down days for their loved ones to return home.

On March 12, MV Abdullah, owned by SR Shipping, a subsidiary of the KSRM Group, was hijacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean while en route to the United Arab Emirates with coal cargo from Mozambique.

The ship was carrying 23 Bangladeshi sailors, who were all taken hostage. This was the second KSRM Group vessel to be seized along with its crew. After 32 days in captivity, the Somali pirates released the ship and its entire 23-member crew at 3 am on April 14.

After 33 days in captivity, the sailors then headed for UAE and arrived in the Middle Eastern country on April 22. The vessel there unloaded its cargo of 55,000 tonnes of coal on Saturday. MV Abdullah's Chief Officer Mohammad Atik Ullah Khan hails from Chandanaish upazila in Chattogram and lives in the Nandan Kanan area with his mother, wife, and three daughters. His family is now eagerly awaiting his return.

Mina Azmin, Mr Khan's wife, said, "I am thanking Allah for my husband's release and that of the other sailors. We are waiting for him to return home."

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