Dhaka, March 15 -- "Our ship has been attacked. The ship is being hijacked and taken to the coast of Somalia. We are all being held in a room. We have not been beaten. By the grace of Allah, we are doing well, so far, please pray!"

These were the words of ASM Saiduzzaman, chief engineer of the hijacked MV Abdullah ship in the Indian Ocean, to his wife Mehreen Safrin Zaman by phone on Tuesday night, March 12. On Tuesday at 1:30 pm Bangladesh time, Somali pirates boarded and took control of the ship en route from Maputo port in Mozambique to the United Arab Emirates. The ship is carrying 58,000 tonnes of coal. All 23 sailors on board are Bangladeshis. The Bangladeshi-flagged ship is owned by SR Shipping Limited, an associate company of Cha...