MV Abdullah passing through high-risk piracy area
Precautionary safety measures are in place on the Bangladesh-flagged vessel MV Abdullah as it is passing through a high-risk area on its way to the UAE port of AL Hamriyah.
Since its release by Somali pirates yesterday, the ship has so far crossed 200 nautical miles from the Somalian coast. An Italian Navy frigate is escorting it, said Meherul Karim, chief executive officer (CEO) of the ship's owning firm KSRM.
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Preventive measures have been taken to ensure the safety of the ship and its crew, such as installing razor wire on the railings, rigging high-pressure fire hoses on the deck, keeping the Citadel ready, ensuring the emergency fire pump and sound signal are ready, and closing all accommodation and engine room doors and access in case of an emergency, he added.
A Citadel is a designed room in ships constructed to resist a determined pirate trying to gain entry for a period of time.
He added that the ship is currently running at a speed of 8 nautical miles per hour. It would take one more week for the ship to reach the Al Hamriyah in UAE. The ETA (estimated time of arrival) is April 22.
This correspondent contacted one of the crewmen of the ship 4th Engineer Tanveer Ahmad via WhatsApp.
He said that after release from the pirates, two foreign Navy ships escorted them for a few hours.
Navy officials from those ships got onboard MV Abdullah yesterday and inspected the whole ship, said Tanveer adding that they also collected fingerprints and clothes left by the pirates.
"They conducted a health check-up and assured us of safety and gave us food," he said.
Later, the Spanish frigate left and now an Italian frigate is escorting us, he confirmed.
The sailor said all the crewmen were busy cleaning up the dirt and waste left by the pirates on the ship.
He expressed his gratitude to the officials of the ship's owning firm SR Shipping, a concern of KSRM Group, for their tedious efforts in getting the ship and crew released from the pirates.
The ship and 23 crew were released around 3:08am yesterday after being held captive by Somali pirates for 32 days since March 12.
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