'Crew held hostage on lower deck, pirates tried to breach master bridge'

The cargo vessel MV Abdul Hakim-1 has resumed its passage to India after surviving a pirate attack inside the Sundarbans. The ship departed for India from the Angtihara customs station in Koyra upazila of Khulna, at around 5:00 am today, Monday.

Confirming the news, the vessel’s in-charge master, Md Nur Nabi, told Prothom Alo that they continued their trip without delay due to concerns that their entry permit for the Indian port might expire.

The ship had set sail from Mongla port for India on Saturday afternoon. Between 7:00 pm and 7:30 pm that evening, as the vessel reached the Shingyenala area of the Sundarbans, a gang of 10 to 15 pirates boarded the ship from a trawler.

Recounting the incident, Nur Nabi said that the pirates initially held the crew members on the lower deck hostage before attempting to enter the master bridge. When he quickly locked all the bridge gates, the pirates fired 15 to 20 rounds of bullets at the doors.

Failing to breach the bridge, they broke the lock of the master cabin and made off with Tk 59,000 belonging to him. In addition, seven mobile phones and around Tk 6,000 were looted from other crew members, he claimed.

Stating that the entire ordeal lasted between 14 and 15 minutes, Nur Nabi added that the pirates fled deep into the Sundarbans by trawler when other nearby vessels approached.

Following the incident, the ship anchored off the banks of the Shakbaria River in front of the Angtihara customs station. Although customs formalities were completed yesterday, Sunday, the journey was not resumed that day due to security concerns, he said.

Nur Nabi also said, ‘After the incident, one of our crew, Tanveer Sheikh, left the ship out of fear. However, the Indian permit has a limited validity. If we delay further, obtaining a fresh permit could take time. Therefore, we resumed our journey at 5:00 am today. We hope to reach Kolkata port within three days.’

He added that no case or General Diary (GD) was filed regarding the pirate attack. In his words, “We informed the Angtihara naval police outpost about the matter, but we did not want to get involved in legal hassles.”

Alamgir Hossain, a boatman at the Angtihara customs station ghat (dock), said he visited the vessel after it anchored and saw the bullet marks. He claimed that the ship's crew was referring to the area—locally known as the ‘Jhopjhopi River—as the Shingyenala River, which is where the incident took place.

The boatman added that the door of the master bridge on the first floor of the ship was riddled with bullets, and bullet holes were also visible in the adjacent glass window.

Faruk Hossain, in-charge of the Angtihara naval police outpost, said that the victims had been advised to file a written complaint at the police station. However, he added, the victims were reluctant to pursue legal action.

Sirajul Islam, executive president of the Bangladesh-India Maritime Protocol Committee, said the ship was heading to India empty and was scheduled to return to the country carrying fly ash (a raw material for making cement). He added that the matter has been reported to the law enforcement agencies.

The Coast Guard stated that immediate action could not be taken as there was a delay in reporting the incident. Lieutenant Commander Mahbub Hossain, acting media officer for the Coast Guard West Zone, said, “Efforts are underway to identify which pirate gang is involved in this attack. Our intelligence teams are working on it, and the victims have also been spoken to.”

Anwar Master, general secretary of the Mongla unit of the Bangladesh Launch Labour Association, expressed concern that if such incidents continue along the Sundarbans waterways, shipping on the Bangladesh-India route could face a serious threat. He demanded that the safety of vessels and workers be ensured.