From hijacking to release, what happened in MV Abdullah: Read a captured sailor's interview

Somali pirates released the hijacked ship, MV Abdullah, and its crew of 23 early on 14 April. After 33 days in captivity, the ship finally began to sail home to Bangladesh.

The Business Standard Chattogram Bureau Chief Shamsuddin Illius talked to the ship's Chief Officer Md Atik Ullah Khan on 16 April. In a candid interview, he reveals what happened on the day the pirates attacked and the nightmare that followed.

'It happened so fast'

All of us sailors had heard about Somali pirates. We knew about them. But, truth be told, we never thought we would fall victim to such piracy. We were navigating on a route far from the high-risk zone. So, mentally we were not prepared at all.

It was the second day of Ramadan for us. I had just finished my duty at around 8am and went to my room to take some rest. I was jolted awake at the sound of the sudden alarm bell. I rushed out of the room and began to go through the motions. Within a few minutes, the pirates had boarded the ship. Things happened so fast, we did not get time to prepare. 

All of us were frightened. The pirates stormed onto the ship and panic had spread. We knew that Somali pirates do not harm sailors unless under certain circumstances. In the beginning, we all were worried thinking about how to handle the situation. We had heard incidents of pirates open firing and beating up sailors. So, we were under a lot of pressure.

'Most decided not to inform families'

Once the pirates had boarded, we rushed towards the bridge [a room or platform of a ship from which the ship can be commanded]. That's where we saw 12 armed pirates. These were the main hijackers. Later, many other pirates boarded the ship in phases. On the day of the hijacking, there were a total of 65 pirates.

None of them could speak English. They were shouting in their own language. They fired a few blank shots to frighten us, but they did not assault anyone. Once we were taken hostage, we began adapting to the situation.

We were caught in two minds about contacting our family; worried that they would not be able to bear the tension. I initially sent a message to my family saying that I would not be able to contact them for two to three months as the WiFi connection of the ship had gone out of order.

I sent the message so they would not worry. Most of us made the same decision not to inform our families. So, we all sent the same message about WiFi issues. The pirates soon called us to the bridge and asked us to hand over our mobile phones. At that time, we thought that we had lost our last opportunity to contact our families and inform them about the hijacking.

Some sailors, however, had hidden their phones. That's how we later contacted our families.

'They pointed a gun at us, ordered us to lie down'

The pirates forced all of us to stay in the bridge. The place was very congested for 23 people. All 23 of us and 12 pirates used a single washroom in the bridge, which was very unhygienic and a tough situation for us. Their English was too poor for us to understand. But, they were instructing us to operate the ship.

The situation took a dangerous turn when a warship of the European Union's navy and an aircraft neared our ship about 12 hours into the hijacking. The pirates pointed their guns at us and ordered us to lie down. During that entire time, we were not allowed to move an inch. Even using the washroom was out of the question.

The EU Navy asked the pirates to surrender, threatening to charge otherwise. But the pirates did not agree."

'The most frightening standoff'

The situation turned into a standoff and that was the most frightening turn of events for us. We were afraid of being caught in the crossfire between the EU Navy and the pirates in case an operation was launched.

At one stage, the EU Navy started a countdown warning that they would open fire if the pirates did not surrender. At the end of the countdown, they actually fired blank shots which made the pirates anxious. But, they kept putting pressure on us. The pirates forced the captain to talk to the EU Navy over VHF (radio) and ask them to leave the place. They also warned that if the EU Navy ship did not leave, they would kill us.

The situation made us break down mentally. We could not even inform our family about the hijacking by that time. After about half an hour, the EU Navy became silent. But, the warship kept moving alongside our ship.

'We were assured that all of Bangladesh stood by us'

With the EU ship shadowing us, the pirates kept us under strict surveillance. We could not sleep all night. We all kept saying prayers. Meanwhile, one of us had an extra mobile phone. So, we went down after taking permission to bring some medicine. Checking the internet, he found that the entire Bangladesh, along with our families, had come to know about the hijacking of our ship. Journalists and government agencies were contacting our family members. We were a little assured knowing that all of Bangladesh stood by our families.

The first three to four days, we were under tremendous pressure. There were 23 people in one tiny room. We were allowed to go down the stairs only during Sehri. Those who had extra hidden mobile phones were able to contact their families. We all also got the chance to talk to our families for one or two minutes.

'We became used to living among guns'

The situation started normalising within four to five days as we became used to living in that congested bridge among the guns.

From the beginning, we were assured of one thing that our company has the experience to face situations like this. One of the company's ships (MV Jahan Moni) was hijacked in 2010 and they managed to free it within three months.

We were preparing mentally that we would have to be in captivity for at least two to three months. We were preparing to cope with the situation accordingly with all necessary resources like water and food. We had enough food and water for one month. As the number of people increased on board, we had to start rationing food and water from the very beginning. We consulted with the pirates to set a rationing system to manage the limited water and provisions.

We usually go through rationing on board, not for more than two to three days; at best a week. But, we did not have the experience of going through rationing for such a long time. Usually, we remain busy with our day-to-day routine work on board. We work, take rest, and talk to our family, which is our daily routine. When the ship was hijacked and we were taken hostage, our only job was to keep sitting on the bridge. We had nothing to do.

Our daily routine broke down. Unable to talk to our family, time was not passing. A day seemed like a week. We could not sleep well. We were mentally very broken. It was an uncertain situation. We were not sure how long we would have to go through this, which was quite disturbing.

'Good behaviour was exchanged with good behaviour'

From the very beginning, we were behaving well and cooperating with the pirates. If we behaved rudely, they would do the same. We got the result of our good behaviour after a week. They started allowing us to go down the stairs during the daytime for prayers, iftar and other things. At night, we used to return to the bridge. This time we became a little relaxed and started communicating with our families in turns. We started feeling better mentally.

In the meantime, the pirates allowed us to move freely and go to the cabin during the daytime, which made us more relaxed. We did not know about any negotiation happening at that time. From the media reports and our family members, we came to know that the negotiation might be completed before Eid. We are a bit excited. But when it did not go through before Eid, we were disheartened and thought that this was just a rumour.

'Something sure changed as pirates were excited to go back home after Eid'

The pirate were aware that Eid is the biggest festival for Muslims. As we were fasting and saying our prayers regularly, they seemed to know about our culture. When the Eid day arrived, they allowed us to say our Eid jamaat and even celebrate. Taking their permission, we captured a group photo, which was published in the media widely.

But that moment was short-lived. They did not appreciate the photo. They started charging at us and pressurised us.

A day after Eid, the environment across the ship started changing. We noticed a change in their movement. They seemed excited to go back home. We were anticipating that some good is going to happen. They took pictures and videos of us, which was a good sign. The next day, they made us stand in line and shot a video. By this time, we realised that the negotiation might have been completed with our company.

On 13 April, a plane arrived at 11:30 am, Bangladesh time. It started circling over our ship. We were asked to stand in a line. The pirates' interpreter yelled out, "Wave your hands". So we waved our hands. The plane came close to the seawater and we heard three repetitive thuds of something falling from the plane into the water. The sun was too strong. I could barely see what was going on. The pirate started cheering!

The last two to three days, we were very restricted. Though we did not know anything about the negotiation as it was done very confidentially, when we came to know that the pirates would leave the ship. We were so relieved and excited that we couldn't sleep. Though they were expected to leave the ship during the daytime, the pirates finally left around 12:30 am on 14 April.

At that time, we had a different feeling of freedom which cannot be described in words. We were so happy. A burden had left our chest. The exhaustion and emotional weariness were behind us as we were reintegrating into our normal life.

Last one month, we had gone through immense turmoil, almost like a prolonged nightmare. Even afterward, when we woke up, we felt as though we were still in captivity. We kept running to the bridge to check if the pirates were still there. As we were under restriction for one month, we were still afraid of moving around the ship. We could not tell just how long this nightmare would chase us.

Now, after being released, we are trying to concentrate on our day-to-day work. The pirates messed up the ship and left it in ruins. We are now cleaning all the garbage and rearranging things. We hope we will be able to return to our normal life in two to three days. We were under immense trauma. But a sense of relief has washed over us now. We are able to talk to our family and relatives. They were also traumatized by the whole incident.

We are grateful to the Almighty. We could never imagine that we would be freed so quickly. Our company, SR Shipping, and whoever was involved in the negotiation process must have put tremendous effort in ensuring our earliest release. We want to thank the authorities. Freeing a hijacked ship from the clutches of Somali pirates in just one month does not happen usually.

In the case of the hijacked ship MV Ruen, the ship owners became hopeless and abandoned it. When the ship was recovered through an operation, it was found damaged. But our ship was unharmed, as were we. We are also grateful to people of our country who prayed for us and stood by our family during such hard times.

Besides, all the media outlets in our country were immensely vocal regarding our captivity and constantly updated the nation, which is also praiseworthy. We thank all our journalists for their efforts. We also want to thank our government agencies, Ministry of Shipping, DG Shipping, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs for standing by us, communicating with our company, and ensuring our safe return.

The ship is now heading to the United Arab Emirates and is expected to reach Al Hamriya on 22 April.