GARARD, Somalia, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Somali pirates had yet to demand ransom a week after commandeering a freighter carrying a load of nickel off the coast of India, the owner said Sunday.
Mohammed Shahjahan, managing director of Brave Royal Shipping Management Ltd., owner of the MV Jahan Moni, told reporters the pirates had confirmed the 25 Bangladeshi seamen and the wife of one sailor on board were safe.
He said the pirates twice allowed him to talk to the ship's captain, Farid Ahmed, chief engineer Matiul Mawla and his wife Roksana Guljar by phone, the Bangladeshi online newspaper bdnews24.com reported.
Shahjahan, who also is chairman of Kabir Group that owns the shipping company, said everything possible was being done to facilitate the safe release of the crew members, who were being confined to a single room in the ship, which was hijacked off the coast of Kochi, India, on Dec. 5 and taken to Garad, Somalia, bdnews24.com said.
The ship is carrying more than 43,000 tons of nickel. The ship was bound from Indonesia to Greece when it was hijacked.
