'I am in danger, please forgive me Maa'

"I am in danger. Forgive me Maa. I don't know what will happen next," said Taufiq Islam, second engineer of the Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah, which has been held hostage by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean since Monday.

He last contacted his family at 5:08pm on Tuesday.

Taufiq Islam resided in Karim Nagar under Sondanga police station of Khulna city.

His mother Dil Afroza said, "Yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon, my son called me on WhatsApp and started crying. He asked us for prayers. He asked for forgiveness again and again. I requested him to recite various prayers. At one point, he called out 'Maa', but before I could answer him someone snatched his phone away. I have not been able to communicate with him since then."

Taufiq has a 7-year-old daughter Asfia Tahsim and a 5-year-old son Ahmad Rusafi. Since the incident, his wife Zobaida Noman has been in a state of panic.

He left Khulna on 25 November 2023, to board the ship, planning to return before Eid-ul-Adha this year. 

Similarly, Md Atik Ullah Khan, chief officer of MV Abdullah, departed from his home in Chattogram's Nandankanan area on the same day and joined the ship.

In his last voice message to his family, he said, "They're taking our phones away…Pray for me. They're taking away our phones." 

He is the sole breadwinner of the family, comprising his mother, brother, wife and three daughters. His wife is pregnant with their fourth child.

Atik's mother Shahnur Begum told The Business Standard that she had last spoken to her son at around 6pm on Tuesday. 

"He told me that 50 pirates had surrounded their ship. They were all scared. He said they were 600 nautical miles from Somalia and would reach the country in two-and-a-half days."

Atik then informed her that all their mobile phones were being taken away. He last spoke to his wife at around the same time. 

"He told me the sooner the money was paid, the sooner they would be released. He asked me not to be stressed about him," said Shahnur, mentioning the pirates' demand for a $5 million ransom. 

"If something happens to my son, what will happen to the whole family, especially the four children? Just thinking about it makes me panic. Therefore, our demand to the government along with the company is that all 23 sailors return safely to their families," she added.

Atik's younger brother Abdullah Noor Khan Asif said, "He bears the expenses of my education alongside looking after all others in the seven-member family. We cannot imagine what will happen if he comes to any harm."

The Bangladeshi-flagged ocean-going vessel named MV Abdullah, was on its way to Dubai from Mozambique, with 23 crew members on board, when it was hijacked. The vessel is owned by SR Shipping, a Chattogram-based company owned by the KSRM Group.

Joy, a crew member from Salinagar village in Bagatipara upazila of Natore district, shared his plight with his cousin Maruf over the phone after being taken hostage by Somali pirates. 

Maruf said that Joy had requested him not to inform their parents about the incident, but they learned about it through public representatives and media channels.

Ziaur Rahman and Abida Begum, Joy's parents, have been unable to sleep since hearing about their son's captivity. They have urged the government and the ship authorities to take immediate action to rescue everyone on board, including Joy.

Another crew member, Mohammad Nur, sent a message to his wife saying, "Pass this message to everyone: they are taking away our phones. The final word is that if the ransom is not paid, they said they will kill us one by one. The sooner they are paid the ransom, the sooner they will let us go."

His wife then sent it to relevant officials on Tuesday.

In another audio message to the owner of the vessel, KSRM Group, a crew member said, "The pirates haven't harmed us yet, but are trying to scare us in various ways.

"We have food supplies for 20-25 days, along with 200 tonnes of fresh water and 55,000 tonnes of coal. To ensure that our logistics last, everyone has been instructed not to use them unnecessarily."

Another crew member, deck cadet Sabbir Hossain, sent a WhatsApp message at around 1:40pm saying, "Please save us. Somalian pirates have taken our ship hostage; they have heavy weapons."

The crew on the ship could not be contacted after 6pm on Tuesday.

"No contact has yet been made with the pirates who hijacked the MV Abdullah," an official of SR Shipping said yesterday. 

Meherul Karim, chief executive officer of SR Shipping, told TBS, "We are now tracking the ship. It is heading towards Somalia." 

"We are yet to receive any ransom call from the pirates. Things are not that easy. It takes time. However, we are trying to contact different organisations to reach out to the pirates," he added.

Shahriar Jahan Rahat, deputy managing director of KSRM Group, told TBS that the company will give the utmost importance to rescuing the 23 crew members on board when the communication process starts.

State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said yesterday that efforts are ongoing to rescue the crew members of MV Abdullah. However, he noted that the exact time needed for their rescue cannot be determined at present. 

The prime minister has instructed the foreign ministry and relevant authorities to ensure the safe return of the crew, he added

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud said yesterday that the government is trying to work with a "second party" to ensure the safe release of the hostages aboard the MV Abdullah. 

"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed concern over the incident. Security agencies are working and the matter was discussed in the cabinet meeting informally," he said while speaking to journalists at the Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban of Dhaka University.

TBS Khulna Correspondent Awal Sheikh and Chattogram Correspondent Omar Faruque contributed to the report.