Govt determined to bring back hostage crews: State Minister Khalid

The government is determined to bring back the crew members of hijacked Bangladeshi vessel MV Abdullah safely, state minister for shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said on Wednesday.

"Appropriate steps are being taken in this regard," he said while talking to journalists at his Secretariat office this afternoon.

When asked how long it would take to bring the crew memner back, he said "It is not possible to give a timeframe because the kidnappers are pirates, not normal people."

"The Department of Shipping, and all Maritime wings are working together to resolve the issue. At any cost, we are bound to rescue the crew and ship," he said.

The ship is 600 nautical miles off the Somalia coast but it is not clear yet who the pirates are," he said replying to another query.

"We have informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about this. We have asked for everyone's cooperation to rescue the ship. "Our main priority will be the safe return of the 23 crew members. The crews are safe and sound now in the hijacked vessel."

He also said that India's cooperation has been sought for rescuing the ship and how they will cooperate will be implemented through the Ministry of External Affairs and international wings.

Regarding ransom, Khalid said, “We have not received such kind of information.”

When asked if there was contact with the pirates, he said, "There are some organisations who can contact the pirates. We have no dealings with pirates. We have contact with different countries and we are determined to bring them back."