Somali Pirates free ship and crew after ransom ‘air-dropped’

Somali pirates freed a Bangladeshflagged cargo vessel and its 23 crew on Sunday after sackloads of US dollars were air-dropped to them in ransom, the company and relatives said.

The bulk carrier MV Abdullah was transporting more than 55,000 tonnes of coal from Maputo to the United Arab Emirates when it was seized by dozens of pirates around 550 nautical miles (1,000kms) off the Somali coast a month ago.

The seizure came amid a surge in Somali pirate activity, with international naval forces diverted from the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea to guard against attacks on shipping by Yemen’s Houthi fighters.

Negotiations for the ship’s release were led by Meherul Karim, CEO of its owners KSRM.

“The pirates called us when they reached near the Somalia coast” and one of them spoke English, he told reporters in Chittagong on Sunday. “He communicated with us till we finalised the negotiation,” he added. “We will not discuss or reveal the amount of ransom money.” Footage had been provided to show all the crew were safe, and early on Sunday around 65 pirates left the ship on nine boats, he said.

The MV Abdullah was on its way to its original destination escorted by two European Union ships, he said, and the pirates had given the crew a letter of safe passage in Somali promising “the ship would not come under any more attacks by pirates until it reached Dubai port”.

Fahmida Akter Anny, wife of the ship’s master Mohammed Abdur Rashid, said her husband told her an airplane dropped three sacks filled with US dollars to the pirates before circling the vessel three times.