Special Correspondent :
Attempts have been taken to rescue stranded Bangladeshi ship with 29 sailors from Ukraine seaport: Ministry
Banglar Samriddhi, a Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) ship, has been stranded in the Olvia port of Ukraine with 29 sailors on board since Russia invaded the Eastern European country.
When contacted Shipping Secretary Mohammed Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury, told The New Nation, “the ship was in the Olvia port to load goods before the war started. International shipping lines with the help of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is trying to rescue the ship. We hope the ship will leave the Olvia port by today to enter the international water.”
Bangladesh government is continuously contacting with the crews and captain of the stranded ship, he said in reply to a query.
The Marine Traffic website, which monitors the movement of ships around the world, showed the location of the bulk carrier Banglar Samriddhi near the port of Olvia in the Black Sea at 3.00am Bangladesh time on Sunday.
Omar Farooq Tuhin, a sailor aboard the ship, said all operations at the port of Olvia had been suspended since the start of the war. The sailors are in a panic. The ship has food stock of 13-14 days, and it is not possible to take the ship anywhere because of the presence of the Russian naval force in the sea. He added that there was no attack in the area where the ship was, but explosions could be heard intermittently from a distance.
The stranded sailors called on the Bangladesh government to take necessary steps to rescue them quickly.
According to Marine Traffic, Banglar Samriddhi arrived in Olvia on February 21 from the Turkish port of Eregli.
According to the BBC, about 1,500 Bangladeshis live in Ukraine, including businessmen and students. Since there is no Bangladeshi embassy in Ukraine, the Bangladeshi embassy in Warsaw, Poland has been keeping in touch with Bangladeshis in Ukraine since the war begins. Attempts are being made to bring Bangladeshis to Poland on transit visas and send them back to Bangladesh.
