Every moment spent in fear of death: Deck cadet Sabbir  

The 23 crew members of MV Abdullah, which was released on April 14 after 31 days of captivity by Somali pirates, finally met their families.

The crew members arrived in Chattogram Port jetty at around 3.43pm on Tuesday by another ship ‘MV Jahan Moni’.

Relatives were waiting for the sailors’ safe return and the long wait ended today. Relatives gathered at the port jetty with flowers. The crew members received a warm welcome.

During expressing his experience, Sabbir, deck cadet of MV Abdullah ship, said, “We spent every moment in fear of death. Every time when I was a hostage, I thought about what would happen, whether I would ever see my family members again”. 

On 12 March, MV Abdullah, carrying 55,000 tonnes of coal from Mozambique to Dubai, was captured by Somali pirates, along with 23 sailors.  MV Abdullah was freed on April 14.