Seafarers Released

Somali Pirates have released the Bangladesh-flagged ship “MV Jahan Moni” along with 26 Bangladeshis after 99 days captivity.

On its release, the ship started for Port of Salalah in Oman, Meherul Karim, general manager of Brave Royal Ship Management Limited, the operating company of the ship, told The Daily Star confirming the information.

“The pirates left the ship at 9:57am (Bangladesh time) allowing the crews to go,” Meherul told our Chittagong correspondent.

At 10:25am, the crews started for Port of Salalah, he added.

SR Shipping Limited, owner of MV Jahan Moni, is scheduled to hold a press conference to disclose the details about the incident.

Earlier on Saturday, Acting Foreign Secretary Mustafa Kamal informed that the ship along with the 26 Bangladeshis will be first anchored at Port of Refugee in a nearby country of Somalia when the hijacked crew will be offloaded for medical check up, refreshment and other formalities and will then start returning home.

New crew will take over the ship and will move towards its destination in Greece with 43,150 tonnes of nickel which was on the ship at the time of hijack.

Replying to a question, the acting foreign secretary said a lengthy negotiation took place both at the diplomatic and private channels and finally the ship and the crew are being released.

On a query on ransom, he said, “We have no information about ransom and we are not aware of it. As per the international law a government can’t give any ransom to anyone.”  It was earlier reported that the pirates had demanded US$9 million.