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Eid day came and went, but there were no festivities at the homes of the MV Abdullah sailors who had been taken hostage by Somali pirates. Their families instead waited, anxiously, for any news of their loved ones.
But now that they have been released, the joy has been restored.
“My son is free,” said Lutfe Ara Begum, the mother of freed sailor Ainul Haque. “I have no words to express how wonderful it is.”
“Eid came, but there was no joy in our home. I spoke to Ainul the day before Eid. Then I couldn’t speak to him for two days. We were very worried about his release.”
She expressed her gratitude and delight that her son and his co-workers were freed so quickly, reports bdnews24.com.
“I am thankful to the ship owners, the honourable prime minister, and the media. Because they always monitored the situation, our boys were freed.”
On Mar 12, Somali pirates seized control of the MV Abdullah and took the 23 sailors on board hostage. The vessel was transporting 55,000 tonnes of coal from Mozambique to the United Arab Emirates at the time. The cargo ship is operated by SR Shipping, a unit of Kabir Group.
After capturing the vessel, the pirates moved it to the Somali coast and regularly changed its position. Nine days after the vessel was hijacked, the pirates contacted the owners through a third party.
The ship and its crew were freed after a ransom was negotiated.
The ship left Somalia for Dubai around 3am on Sunday Bangladesh time, according to Mizanul Islam, a spokesman for the Kabir Group.
Jannatul Ferdous is the wife of Nuruddin, one of the sailors held captive for 33 days.
“We could not enjoy Eid on Thursday. But when my husband called me at 3am in the morning with news of his release, it felt like today was our Eid day.”
“On Eid day, the pirates allowed all of the sailors to speak to their families. But there was no communication for two days after that. Then, we spoke this morning. My husband said that they had departed for Dubai under the guard of foreign vessels. However, he could not say when he would get back home.”
Josna Begum is the mother of MV Abdullah’s Fourth Engineer Md Tanvir.
“I had not spoken to my son since Eid day,” she said. “Then, around 3:45am, he called and informed us that he had been freed.”
She said she had only been able to speak to her son a few times during his captivity.
“Tanvir told us that the pirates had been very angry when photos of them with their captors had appeared in the media after their Eid prayers.”
“I can't put into words how delighted I was to hear the news of their release early this morning,” she said. “It felt like today was our Eid day. After all, our home was without cheer on Eid day.”