Banglar Samriddhi: Surviving 28 crew expected back Wednesday

Banglar Samriddhi crew members with members of the diplomatic corps. UNB

Dhaka, Mar 8 - The 28 surviving crew members of the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation vessel 'Banglar Samriddhi'- are scheduled to arrive back home in Dhaka, from Bucharest, Romania on Wednesday noon.

A Turkish Airlines flight carrying the gang of sailors is scheduled to arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 12:15pm.

They arrived in Romania on March 6 from Ukraine through Moldova, said Bangladesh Ambassador to Romania Daud Ali. 

"We extended all cooperation including smooth immigation both in Moldova and Romania, transport from Moldova to Bucharest (in Romania), hotel accommodation, food, etc," he said after completion of their boarding and immigration at the airport Tuesday night. 

"During their short stay in Bucharest we arranged a dinner at our residence and on Tuesday lunch at our embassy," Ambassador Daud also said.

The crew were stranded in war-ravaged Ukraine before crossing the border. 

“Hopefully, they will reach Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Wednesday,” said Captain Md Mujibur Rahman, Deputy General Manager (planning) of Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC).

“The body of the ship’s third engineer Hadisur Rahman, who was killed during a rocket attack on the ship, has been preserved in a bunker near Ukraine and it will be brought back at a convenient time,” said the BSC Deputy GM.

Meanwhile, general secretary of Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officers' Association (BMMOA) Md Shakwat Hossain said, “As situation in Ukraine is worsening the procedure to bring back Hadisur’s body is being delayed. The procedure to bring back his body home will begin within five to seven days depending on the situation there.”

The BSC ship got stranded in Ukraine as Russian invasion started soon after it anchored at Olvia port on February 23.

The ship had been declared abandoned after it came under rocket attack that killed one of its crew members. - UNB