Owner of the Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah that was hijacked by Somali pirates on March 12, does not support armed operation to free the ship and its crew. Mizanul Islam, media adviser of the owner KSRM Group, said that they are not in favour of any armed operation, considering the safety of the sailors. Rather, they are in favour of accepting conditions to rescue the crew, he said. The information that the European Union and the Indian Navy are preparing to free MV Abdullah is not correct, the media adviser informed. Replying to a question from UNB’s Chattogram correspondent, Mizanul said that the Somali pirates who hijacked the ship have already contacted them, though they are yet to demand any ransom. Read more: All crew members are safe on the hijacked vessel: KSRM Group’s media consultant “We hope to rescue the ship, free 23 sailors, and bring them back home through discussions. We are working on that end. In this case, the company is trying to utilise its previous experience,” he informed. He said family members of the crew members are in touch with them. Commodore Mohammad Maksud Alam, director general (DG) of Department of Shipping, said that no one can conduct an operation on the hijacked ship without permission from Bangladesh. Discussions are underway to free the ship and crew from the pirates and it will take some time, the DG said. Read more: ‘If money is not given, they will kill us’: Audio message of hijacked ship’s chief officer He also informed that the presence of the EU navy’s ship won’t impact the discussion. On March 12, a group of Somali pirates seized control of the Bangladesh-flagged cargo vessel when it was carrying coal from Mozambique’s Maputo port to Al Hamriyah Port in the UAE. MV Abdullah is owned by SR Shipping Lines, a sister concern of Chattogram-based Kabir Steel and Rerolling Mill (KSRM) Group. On March 20, the pirates made the first contact with the owner of the vessel. Read more: ‘Indian Ocean is named after us; if we don't take action, who will?’: Indian Navy Chief

Indian Navy will take affirmative action to ensure there is safety and security in the Indian ocean, Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of Naval Staff, said on Saturday (March 23, 2024). The Indian Navy is keeping a close watch on the hijacked Bangladeshi vessel MV Abdullah and it has been taken to Somalia, he said. ‘If money is not given, they will kill us’: Audio message of hijacked ship’s chief officer He was speaking on the 100 days of the Indian Navy’s operations for anti-drone, anti-missile and anti-piracy attacks in the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea and Red Sea. Earlier, there were 54-55 anti-piracy ships everyday and now it has gone up to 64-65. Please pray, says hijacked ship Abdullah's chief engineer to his family "The Indian Navy is very clear about its job. This is the Indian Ocean, named after us, and if we don't take action, then who will?" he said. Govt in touch with international bodies to rescue hijacked Bangladeshi ship, its crew: FM

India's brand-new home-made submarine headed out for its first sea trial on Tuesday, a year ahead of its induction into the country's naval fleet as INS Vagir. The U-boat -- the fifth of the six Scorpene-class submarines -- was built by the state-owned Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) with help from France's Naval Group. "Despite the pandemic, MDL delivered two submarines of the Project 75 last year. The sea trials of the fifth submarine are a significant milestone," the Indian Navy said in a statement. Read: How India plans to spiff up economic growth Four submarines of this French-designed class are already in Indian naval service. The Scorpene-class submarines have superior stealth features and are also equipped with both long-range guided torpedoes as well as anti-ship missiles.  These submarines can launch anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare due to their low-radiated noise levels and ability to launch crippling attacks with precision-guided weapons.

Indian navy ships and helicopters searched in extreme weather and rough seas Wednesday for 78 people still missing from a barge that sank off Mumbai as a deadly cyclone blew ashore this week. Navy Cdr. Alok Anand said 183 people were rescued within 24 hours by the three ships and helicopters engaged in the operation. A survivor told the New Delhi Television news channel that he jumped into the sea with his life jacket and was later picked up by the navy. In another operation, a navy helicopter rescued 35 crew members of another barge, GAL Constructor, which ran aground north of Mumbai, a government statement said. Read:India scours sea after barge sinks, 2nd adrift after cyclone Both barges were working for Oil and Natural Gas Corp., the largest crude oil and natural gas company in India. The company said the barges were carrying personnel deployed for offshore drilling and their anchors gave away during the storm. Cyclone Tauktae, the most powerful storm to hit the region in more than two decades, packed sustained winds of up to 210 kilometers (130 miles) per hour when it came ashore in Gujarat state late Monday. The storm left at least 25 dead in Gujarat and Maharashtra states. The Hindu newspaper Wednesday tallied more than 16,000 houses damaged in Gujarat state and trees and power poles uprooted. The cyclone has weakened into a depression centered over the south of Rajasthan state and adjoining Gujarat region, a statement by the Indian Meteorological Department said on Wednesday. In Nepal, authorities on Tuesday asked mountaineers to descend from high altitudes because the storm system may bring severe weather. Hundreds of climbers, guides and staff are on various mountains in Nepal, trying to climb the peaks this month when weather is usually most favorable in the high altitudes. Nepal has eight of the world’s 14 highest peaks, including Mount Everest. Read:Powerful cyclone hits land in India amid deadly virus surge The Department of Tourism in a statement Tuesday asked climbers and outfitting agencies to monitor the weather and stay safe. In 2014, snowstorms and avalanches triggered by a cyclone in India killed 43 people in Nepal’s mountains in the worst hiking disaster in the Himalayan nation. The snowstorms were believed to be whipped by the tail end of a cyclone that hit the Indian coast a few days earlier. The blizzards swept through the popular Annapurna trekking route and hikers were caught off-guard when the weather changed quickly.

The Indian navy is working to rescue crew members from a sunken barge and a second cargo vessel that was adrift Tuesday off the coast of Mumbai after a deadly cyclone struck the western coast. The navy said it had rescued 177 people of the total 400 on the two barges in the Arabia Sea. Three frontline warships, maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters were part of the rescue operations and were scouring the sea, the Navy said. Both barges were working for Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, the largest crude oil and natural gas company in India. Read:Powerful cyclone hits land in India amid deadly virus surge Cyclone Tauktae, the most powerful storm to hit the region in more than two decades, packed sustained winds of up to 210 kilometers (130 miles) per hour when it came ashore in Gujarat state late Monday. Four people were killed in the state, raising the storm’s total to 16. Residents emerged from relief shelters Tuesday to find debris strewn across roads, trees uprooted and electricity lines damaged. In Maharashtra, six people were killed Monday but the state’s capital, Mumbai, was largely spared from any major damage even as heavy rains pounded the city’s coastline and high winds whipped its skyscrapers. Over the weekend, the cyclone had killed six people in Kerala, Karnataka and Goa states as it moved along the western coast. The cyclone has weakened, but the India Meteorological Department forecast heavy rainfall for many parts of Gujarat and Maharashtra in the coming days. Ahead of the cyclone, about 150,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas in Maharashtra and Gujarat states. S.N. Pradhan, director of India’s National Disaster Response Force, said social distancing norms were being followed in evacuation shelters and rescue teams were clearing debris from affected areas. Read: Severe cyclone heading toward southern India; 6 dead Both states, already among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, had scrambled disaster response teams, fearing the storm could endanger India’s fight against the coronavirus, with supply lines cut, roads destroyed and lockdown measures slowing relief work. Tropical cyclones are less common in the Arabian Sea than on India’s east coast and usually form later in the year. But experts say changing climate patterns have caused them to become more intense, rather than more frequent. In May 2020, nearly 100 people died after Cyclone Amphan, the most powerful storm to hit eastern India in more than a decade, ravaged the region.