Bangladesh on Thursday has decided to abandon the two ships which are trapped in the Port Olivia in Ukraine, senior officials of the foreign ministry told the FE.
The decision was taken following the attack on one of the two ships- Banglar Samriddhi- on Wednesday resulting in the death of a Bangladeshi mariner, Hadisur Rahman. He was the third Engineer of the Banglar Samriddhi.
“We have already issued letter for the abandonment in line with the international provision” foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen told the FE on Thursday evening after an inter ministerial meeting.
He also informed that the 28 crews of the ships along with the body of the deceased mariner were brought to the port.
Process is on for the safe evacuation of the mariners to nearby counties from Ukraine.
The foreign secretary also said Russia made it clear that they did not make the missile attack on the Bangladeshi ship.
We cannot say that Russia is responsible for the attack right now and it is still unclear who made the attack, he added.
The meeting was convened to assess the possible fall out of the war on Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, Russia on Thursday expressed deep condolences to the near and dear ones of the deceased Bangladeshi mariner.
It also pledged to take ‘every effort to ensure the safe departure of the Bangladeshi mariners and ships from the port’ in a statement issued by the Russian Embassy in Dhaka.
“The Command of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, relying on the objective monitoring data, has repeatedly stated that, during the retreat, the Ukrainian nationalists open indiscriminate fire and deliberately capture hostages, use them as a “human shield”, resorting to the well-known terrorists’ tactic” the statement added.
The statement also informed that for resolving the humanitarian issues arising from the special military operation in Ukraine, including the requests for evacuation of the civilians, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation has launched the hotline +7 495498-34-46, +7 495 498-42-11, +7 495 498-41-09.
According to reports, the Banglar Samriddhi, a four-year-old bulker registered in Bangladesh was reported stranded at the anchorage off the Port of Olvia, located in the Mykolaiv region on the northern Black Sea coast.
The 38,800 dwt vessel said that it had a crew of 29 with supplies to last no more than two weeks.
After the beginning of the war, the crew reported that they were stranded when Ukraine closed its seaports. They called on the Bangladesh government to take the steps necessary to rescue them.
