MV Abdullah: From horror to a warm embrace

The Chattogram port was filled with sighs of relief as the 23 crew members of MV Abdullah finally reached home yesterday afternoon.

As the ship docked at the port, families of the crew members, who were held hostage by Somali pirates for 33 days, were seen rushing to their loved ones with eyes brimmed over with tears of joy.

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MV Abdullah crew members reunite with families in Ctg port

The ship was freed by the pirates a month ago but it took another month for it to come home since it needed to unload the export cargo at its destined port in the UAE.

The vessel then loaded import cargo from another UAE port and sailed for another 13 days to reach Kutubdia on Monday evening. 

From there, a smaller lighter vessel -- MV Jahan Moni-3 -- brought the 23 sailors to the No-1 jetty of the New Mooring Container Terminal at the port.

Along with their families, senior officials of the ship's owning firm SR Shipping, its parent organisation KSRM group, and the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), were eagerly waiting for their arrival.

As soon as MV Jahan Moni-3 came in sight, the atmosphere changed from eager to celebratory. The crowd, joined by the jetty workers, welcomed the sailors amid cheerful screams. 

The ship berthed at the jetty around 4:00pm, but it took a good 20 minutes for the crew members to disembark due to the crowd below.

Standing on the deck, they looked for their families.

When Jannatul Ferdous spotted her husband Mohammad Noor Uddin, a general steward of MV Abdullah, standing on MV Jahan Moni-3's deck, she passed a cap to him to help him get shade from the scorching sun.

"Our life has been renewed. I thought we would never see him again but by the grace of God, he returned to me," she told The Daily Star.

Once the sailors were able to get off the ship, senior officials of KSRM and the CPA formally greeted them.

Chattogram City Corporation Mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury; CPA Chairman Mohammad Sohail; KSRM Deputy Managing Directors Sarwar Jahan and Shahriar Jahan; and SR Shipping CEO Meherul Karim received them with bouquets.

Until then, the crew members were calm and composed. But once they got to meet their families, after two long months of turmoil, the tears flowed freely.

Overcome by elation, they struggled to speak to the media people who gathered there.

General Steward Noor was seen rushing to his toddler son. Once he got him  in his arms, he smothered him with kisses.

Josna Begum, mother of fourth engineer Tanveer Ahmad, would not let go of her son when this correspondent approached, having gotten him back in her arms after so long.

"My long wait has at last come to an end. I feel so good to have my son back, I can't express it in words," she said, beaming.

Tanveer said, "I had thought we'd be held hostage longer because every time I got a glimmer of hope to be released, it was snatched away again. I have been waiting for this moment for so long."

MV Abdullah's Chief Officer Md Atik Ullah Khan's two daughters and younger brother had been waiting for him.

Once Atik spotted them, he rushed to them and held his daughters tight.

Speaking to The Daily Star, he said, "I can't express my joy in words. The whole country prayed for us and their prayers were our strength during those moments of crisis."

Atik's younger daughter Unaiya Mahbin, a first grader, said, "Baba said he will take us out now! I am so happy to see him!"

Mohammad Shamsuddin, an oiler of the ship, said, "I don't even want to recall those days in captivity. Thirty-three days felt like 33 years to me. The pirates were heavily armed and desperate, leaving us constantly anxious and fearful…. We used to pray in the ship at gunpoint."

CPA arranged a brief reception ceremony at the jetty for the MV Abdullah crew.

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud in a virtual speech welcomed the crew members.

He said the coordinated efforts by the ship's owning firm, different government offices and international organisations helped the speedy release.

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

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

Once released, the ship went to the Al Hamriyah port on April 22 to unload the cargo and then to the Mina Saqr port to load 56,000 tonnes of limestone to be imported to Bangladesh.

The ship left the UAE in the early hours of April 30. It stopped at a nearby port to refuel before heading to Chattogram.

(Another Chattogram correspondent contributed to this report.)