The Bangladesh-flagged ship MV Abdullah which was hijacked by pirates reached near the Somali coast of Garacad on Thursday morning.

It was spotted some 72 nautical miles off the coast around 6am.

“If the vessel continues with her current speed, she may reach Somalia anchorage in between 1pm and 2pm today,” said Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officers’ Association (BMMOA) General Secretary Shawkat Hossain.

The vessel was around 170 nautical miles off the coast around 6:40pm on Wednesday.

On the other hand, though a media outlet reported that the pirates demanded a ransom of $5 million, Kabir Group – which owned the ship – said it could not contact the pirates till Wednesday evening.

The group said they were trying to contact the pirates through various international organisations which work with them.

Md Mizanul Islam, media consultant of Kabir Group, said they could contact the crew members of the hijacked ship on Wednesday and they were safe and physically well at that time.

“We also contacted the high levels of the government and the international organisations familiar with the incident,” he added.

On Tuesday afternoon, MV Abdullah was hijacked with 23 Bangladeshi crew members on board by armed Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean.

The bulk carrier of SR Shipping, a concern of Kabir Group, was on its way to Al Hamriyah Port in Dubai from Maputo Port in Mozambique. It was carrying 55,000 tonnes of thermal coal.

On 5 December 2010, Somali pirates hijacked another vessel, the MV Jahan Moni, belonging to the same company. After 99 days in captivity, the vessel’s 25 crew members and the wife of the chief engineer, Matiul Mawla, were released.

The authorities concerned and the government had denied the matter of paying ransom for the release then.

The crew members returned to Chattogram on 21 March 2011.