<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Bangladeshi cargo vessel MV Abdullah which was hijacked by a group of Somali pirates will reach the Somali’s coast by Thursday afternoon.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The pirates may take the vessel to the Somalia coast around 2 pm (Bangladesh time), said Mohammad Shakhawat Hossain, general secretary of Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officer’s Association(BMMOA) quoting International Maritime Bureau (IMB).</div><div><br></div><div>Now the vessel is around 20 nautical miles off the Somalian coast and it will reach the coast within two hours, he said.</div><div><br></div><div>Meanwhile, Chief Officer of MV Abdullah Captain Atique Ullah Khan through a whatsapp audio message said, “The pirates allowed them to take Sehri and all the 23 crew members are safe and sound,”</div><div><br></div><div>The cell phone sets of all crew members were seized on Tuesday, he said in the audio message.</div><div><br></div><div>The message reads—“All of the crew members were taken to the bridge of the vessel and no one was physically assaulted yet. As we all co-operated, the pirates behaved well to us.”</div><div><br></div><div>On Tuesday, pirates took control of the ship, carrying coal from Mozambique’s Maputo port to Al Hamriyah Port in the UAE, around noon.</div><div><br></div><div>MV Abdullah is owned by SR Shipping Lines – a sister company of Chattogram-based Kabir Steel and Rerolling Mill (KSRM) Group.</div><div><br></div><div>Amid worries and uncertainty over the fate of the crew, Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud on Wednesday said the government has already communicated with relevant international bodies in an effort to rescue hijacked ship MV Abdullah and the sailors safely.</div><div><br></div><div>The Piracy Reporting Center in Kuala Lumpur, Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), New Delhi, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and the Singapore office under the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia have already been informed regarding the matter, he said.</div><div><br></div><div>Besides, the situation of the Bangladesh ship has also been reported to the ships of the UK, the USA, India and China operating in that area, he said.</div><div><br></div><div>The waters off Somalia saw a peak in piracy in 2011 when the U.N. said more than 160 attacks were recorded, reports AP.</div><div><br></div><div>The incidents declined drastically afterward, largely due to the presence of American and allied navies in international waters. According to UNB Reports</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>