Published on December 13, 2010
The owner of the hijacked Bangladeshi-flagged ship MV Jahan Moni said on Sunday the pirates have contacted them from Somalia and that all 25 Bangladeshi sailors on board are safe.
Mohammed Shahjahan, chairman of Brave Royal Shipping Management Limited that owns the ship, was quoted as saying by private news agency bdnews24 on Sunday that the pirates put him through to the captain, chief engineer and his wife on telephone. They talked twice, at 2:30 p.m. and at 7 p.m. local time, he said.
Somali pirates hijacked the ship on Dec. 5 from the Arabian Sea as the ship was heading towards Europe with cargo from Singapore after a long chase. The Bangladeshi government on Dec. 6 sought international help for rescuing the hijacked ship.
Later the pirates took the ship, which was carrying 43,150 tons of nickel, to the Somali coast on Saturday.