2024-04-16 10:31:18
State Minister of Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said that we have managed to free the sailors held hostage by Somali pirates. The whole country is happy on the first day of Bengali New Year.
He said these things to reporters at the official residence on Minto Road in the capital on Sunday (April 14). At that time, the Director General of the Directorate of Shipping, Commodore M. Maqsood Alam was present there.
The state minister said that such a case (rescue of hostage sailors) was decided in such a short period of time is unprecedented. … On the first day of the new year, we rejoice. Not only their relatives but the whole country is very happy that we have freed our sailors.
He said that everyone in the global maritime sector is in touch to make a decision. The Ministry of External Affairs, Directorate of Shipping and the International Maritime Wing were active. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, we were active in freeing the sailors.
When I gave the news of the release of the sailors to the Prime Minister, he expressed his gratitude. 23 sailors freed from pirates, now they are safe. After more than a month of activity, we managed to free the ship and the sailors. Now they are moving towards UAE.
The state minister also said that we have been hearing about the ransom since the beginning. We have no involvement with it. We do not have such information. Many people are showing pictures, these pictures also have no truth. We don’t know where the images are coming from. As far as this is concerned, we would like to thank the Ministry of External Affairs, Department of Shipping, International Maritime Wing, European Naval Force, Indian Navy, Somali Police. Everyone cooperated.
Highlighting the details of the long discussion, the state minister said, we have been negotiating with them for a long time. There is no issue of ransom here. Our discussion, there are different kinds of pressures, those pressures worked. They are controlled from international waters. Pirates are not powerful. The time it took us, including the Europa Naval Forces, they were under a lot of pressure. In particular, the Somali police were under pressure. They want to protect the sea from pirates. That’s why American support is also taking. May this route be safe in future. They realize that their image is being tarnished by Somali pirates around the world. They were very alert. The pirates were trying to get under control.
Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said that international pressure and talks have been done through discussion. They (Somali pirates) also had security concerns. Pirates will also want to keep them safe. The pressure was constant, very extreme. That’s why they went down. Such was the pressure—they were 20 pirates, later 65 pirates took up residence on the ship. Realizing how much pressure there was on the mainland, everyone went out together. What happened to them after reaching the mainland is not known. Somali police were there.