MV ''Abdullah'', originally named MV ''Golden Hawk'', is a
Bangladeshi bulk carrier
A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially naval architecture, designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo—such as Grain trade, grain, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement—in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrie ...
.
History
Built in 2015, the vessel was acquired in late 2023 from Japanese owners.
The MV ''Abdullah'' is currently owned by KSRM Shipping Ltd.
Hijacking
On 12 March 2024, the ship was hijacked by pirates
while underway, travelling from the capital of Mozambique,
Maputo
Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...
, to
Hamriya Port in the United Arab Emirates. The vessel was carrying 55,000 tonnes according to Kabir Steel Re-Rolling Mills, the ship's owner.
All 23 members of the ship's crew were held hostage. The ship had been off the coast of Somalia. On 14 March, a ship was deployed by the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
as part of
Operation Atalanta to shadow the cargo carrier.
Some Indian media reports claimed that on 14 March,
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...
's intercepted the hijacked ship to rescue the crew members onboard and dispatched a
P-8I maritime patrol aircraft to the location. Somali pirates released the hijacked ship ''MV Abdulla''h, a Bangladesh-flagged bulk carrier, and its crew of 23 early on Sunday, April 14, 2024 after a $5 million (€4.7 million) ransom was paid, which did not involve the deployed Indian Navy. Bangladesh Foreign Minister
Hasan Mahmud dismissed such media reports of the Indian Navy as "not true at all", and mentioned the government of Bangladesh's ongoing efforts to negotiate with the pirates. Another Bangladeshi official said that the ship was anchored close to the Somali coast, and "was commandeered away from its previous position to another hijacked ship which needs fuel."
On 14 April, the ship along with her crew were released when the pirates claimed that they were paid a ransom of
US$5,000,000. The claim was not then independently confirmed, though the vessel's owner did confirm that the ship and her crew were released following negotiations. ''MV Abdullah'' was then escorted by two warships to the United Arab Emirates. The ransom payment was arranged by a UK-based marine insurance
P&I club. According to the Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officers Association, three waterproof bags containing $5 million in cash were dropped from a chartered plane near where the ship was anchored in the Somali sea.
See also
*
Piracy off the coast of Somalia
References
2015 ships
2024 crimes in Somalia
Bulk carriers
Cargo ships of Panama
Abdullah
Maritime incidents in 2024
March 2024 in Somalia
Piracy in Somalia
Bangladesh–Somalia relations
Ships attacked and captured by pirates
March 2024 crimes in Africa
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