Pirates on Wednesday contacted the owner group of the MV Abdullah, a Bangladesh-flagged cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates with 23 crew members on board on March 12, for the first time after eight days inside the crisis.

‘This afternoon, we got a phone call from a third party on behalf of the pirates for the first time. No further discussion happened,’ Mizanul Islam, spokesperson of the ship owning company, SR Shipping, told New Age.

He said that they didn’t mention anything about the ransom.

‘Hope we get another call regarding the issue. Our company has all kinds of preparations, and we hope the crisis will be resolved very soon through discussion,’ he added.

The ship was located four nautical miles from the Godobjiraan shore in north-eastern Somalia on Tuesday, and its location remained unchanged until Wednesday.

‘At the beginning of the crisis, the government and the owner group emphasised a peaceful solution to the issue. We are moving forward to that end,’ said captain Sabbir Mahmood, Principal Officer of Mercantile Marine Office in Chattogram (Head of Flag, Port and Coastal State Maritime Administration).

‘Considering the safety and security issues of the hostage crew, the government and the owner group have denied permission for the rescue operation by the Indian Navy,’ he said, adding that, ‘by a third party, the pirates have communicated for the first time, which means the crisis will be settled soon.’

On March 12, a gang of armed pirates took control of the MV Abdullah when it headed for Al Hamriyah Port in the United Arab Emirates, carrying cargo loaded with coal from Mozambique’s Maputo port.

The vessel, belonging to the Bangladeshi organisation SR Shipping Lines, a sister concern of Chattogram-based Kabir Steel and Rerolling Mill Group, has 23 crew members on board.

The vessel was carrying around 58 thousand tonnes of coal.