29-Member Bulk Carrier Crew Stranded At Ukrainian Port

A Bangladesh bulk carrier – Banglar Samriddhi – with its 29 crew members, all Bangladeshis, has been stranded at port of Olvia during Russia’s attack in Ukraine. Confirming the problem, Sumon Mahmud Sabbir, the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation Managing Director reported to The Business Standard that the ship had been at the Olvia port before the war had even started. The chartering department of the shipping corporation is now working on how it could be taken to a safer place.

The official website of Marine Traffic that tracks ship movements, on Sunday, reflected the position of Banglar Samriddhi to be near the port of Olvia in Ukraine at about 3am in Bangladesh time. Omar Farooq Tuhin, a sailor onboard Banglar Samriddhi, informed that there was no attack where Banglar Samriddhi was, but explosions from a distance could be heard intermittently.

The sailors requested the Bangladesh government to take necessary measures immediately to rescue them. Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Shipping, was reached out to regarding the same issue. However, he made no comment.

Per Marine Traffic, the Bangladesh bulk carrier arrived in Olvia on 21 February from the port of Eregli in Turkey.

Captain Mujibur Rahman, DGM at Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, informed The Business Standard that the shipping corporation authorities had ordered the vessel to return without loading the goods and avoid the war situation. But it failed to leave the Black Sea region as operations at the port of Olvia were suspended from the beginning of the war.

In another development, about 200 Bangladeshis have reached Romania and Poland, per Md Shahriar Alam, the Foreign Affairs’ State Minister.

A team of the Bangladesh Embassy in Warsaw is dedicatedly helping the Bangladeshis eager to take refuge in Poland. The two countries share a border that extends beyond 500 km.

Bangladesh had recommended its country’s nationals who were struck in Ukraine to contact the country’s diplomatic missions in the European nations that are near Ukraine. On the other hand, Romania and Poland promptly provided shelters for Bangladeshis temporarily.

About 120,000 individuals have so far managed to flee from Ukraine to Poland and other such neighboring countries with the onset of the Russian invasion, reports AP on Saturday quoting the UN refugee agency.

Reference: tbsnews.net