The crew of MV Abdullah are being welcomed back by their families in different parts of Bangladesh, more than 2 months after their ship was hijacked in the high seas by Somali pirates.

“The entire house was empty without father and we couldn’t even celebrate the Eid and sleep properly, when father will come back and see him, I used to ask mother for this,” said Iyarshara, seven-year-old daughter of MV Abdullah’s Chief Officer Captain Md Atik Ullah Khan at Chattogram port on Tuesday.

The baby girl became emotional when she finally could touch her father.

“Today I’m close to my father, there are exams ahead, after finishing them, I’ll go around with my father and travel, " she shared her plan with UNB’s Chattogram correspondent.

Iyarshara, a three-grader, said she and another sister came here and another two-year-old sister was at home.

Captain Atik said, "I have returned to the day of light from dark days. I don't want to remember that sad memory anymore. I'm trying to overcome the trauma. Pray for us. I got back two children and another is crying at home and have to go back to her quickly.”

Comparing the day with the Eid day, Josna Begum, mother of the vessel’s fourth engineer Tanvir Ahmed, said, “Today I feel much happier which can’t be expressed in words, every moment seems to be too late, today is like Eid, joy for winning war and grateful to Allah.”

Tanvir said, "I was terrified when I was caught by pirates in Somalia. I was in pain. When the news comes, now there is more joy than Eid.”

“The first day I saw the news of being captured by pirates was hard to believe. Eid has gone to death,” he shared the terrific memory of those days

Around 4:15 in the afternoon, the ship MV Jahan Moni docked at the berth with the 23 sailors.

The ship was a little distance from the dock, and the sailors were visible.

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 as the vessel reached the Chattogram port on Tuesday afternoon.

The vessel, which was hijacked for 33 days, departed Al-Hamriya Port in the United Arab Emirates for Bangladesh on April 28 after unloading 55,000 metric tonnes of coal.

MV Abdullah initially anchored at the UAE port on the evening of April 22, following its release from pirates’ captivity.

The ship first arrived at the outer anchorage of the port on April 21, following its ordeal which began on March 12 when it was seized by Somali pirates about 600 nautical miles off the Somali coast en route from Mozambique to Dubai.

The pirates took control of the vessel and its crew, holding them until a ransom of Tk 55 crore facilitated their release on the night of April 13.