Arrest warrant issued against 19 absconding Bangladeshi sailors

A Marine court has issued arrest warrant against 19 Bangladeshi sailors who fled from their oceangoing vessels while docked at foreign ports in recent years.

In a notice issued on Thursday (19 December), the Department of Shipping urged the public to report any information regarding the absconding mariners to the nearest police stations or the department's office in Dhaka.

The sailors are Md Sohanur Rahman, Md Ariful Islam, Abu Sufian, Mostafa Kamal, Iskandar Miji, Md Sanaullah, Md Anwaruzzaman, Md Abdul Quddus, Aminul Islam, Opi Hossain, Md Rafiqul Islam, Md Mizanur Rahman, Md Sheikh Alam, Md Mehedi Hasan, Md Al Amin, Md Imam Hossain, Enamul Haque, Md Imrul Hossain and Mohammad Ibrahim.

The notice stated that the mariners escaped from 13 different ships, including three Bangladeshi-flagged vessels — MV Meghna Adventure, MV Meghna Princess, and MV Meghna Crown.

All the three vessels are owned by Meghna Group of Industries.

Among them, four mariners fled together from Meghna Adventure ship on 27 November 2023. The ship was en route to the Port of New Orleans in the United States carrying goods from Russia when the four jumped off the ship into the Mississippi River.