The government is trying to find out the reason behind the missile attack on Bangladeshi vessel “Banglar Samriddhi”, owned by the state-run Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, at port Olvia of Ukraine on March 2.
On condition of anonymity, a top government official said the attack took place a few hours after the voting on the UN General Assembly resolution reprimanding Russia for invading Ukraine, on which Bangladesh abstained from voting.
The resolution, supported by 141 of the assembly's 193 member states, was passed in a rare emergency session called by the UN Security Council.
Bangladesh was among the 35 countries, including India, Pakistan and China, that abstained from voting.
The source also told Dhaka Tribune that there were a lot of ships near the Bangladeshi vessel at port Olvia, but no other ships were hit by a missile or shell.
“We are trying to figure out the reason behind this,” he said.
Shipping ministry and Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) officials declined to comment on the matter.
However, when talking to Dhaka Tribune on Thursday, BSC Managing Director Commodore Suman Mahmud Sabbir said: “Before the incident the captain of “Banglar Samriddhi” told me there were eight ships in the berth and another 15-20 ships in the inner anchorage of port Olvia.”
When asked why the ship did not leave the port after the invasion started, he said: “It was business as usual when the ship started for Ukraine. It reached the outer anchorage of port Olvia on February 22 and moved to the inner anchorage with 21 other vessels on the next day. The invasion started on February 26, and we promptly instructed the ship to return, but the port authorities did not permit it to do so and also did not provide it with a maritime pilot.
“The port authorities did not allow any other ships to move either, and no vessel can leave a port without permission.”
The Bangladesh ambassador in Poland is trying to contact the port, but so far there has been no official update on the ship’s maintenance, said the BSC managing director.
“Banglar Samriddhi” went to Ukraine to collect food grains for a Singaporean company named Delta.
“According to the charter party agreement, we would have to give them demurrages if we did not sail for Ukraine on time. It also would have ruined the reputation of our ships,” explained the BSC official.
Around 200 other foreign ships are still stranded in Ukraine as well, Sabbir said.
Meanwhile, a shipping ministry source said a probe will likely be started to know if there was any mismanagement by the BSC.
The corporation has made an insurance claim to the tune of $22.8million for the ship, he said.
The 28 surviving crew members of “Banglar Samriddhi” returned to Dhaka by a Turkish Airlines flight on Wednesday.
Upon landing in Dhaka, the sailors demanded the government provide adequate compensation to the family of crewmate Hadisur Rahman, who was killed after the missile hit the ship at port Olvia.
They also urged the authorities to take steps to bring Hasidur’s body back to Bangladesh as soon as possible.
Hasidur’s body has been preserved at a bunker near Ukraine and will be brought home soon, according to government sources.
