Bangladeshi Ship Stranded at Ukrainian Port

A Bangladeshi flagged ship with 29 crew members -- all Bangladeshi -- remained stranded at the outer anchorage of a Ukrainian port due to the Russian invasion of the country.

All of the 29 crew members are safe, said Captain Mujibur Rahman, general manager of Bangladesh Shipping Corporation that owns the ship.

The 180-meter long bulk carrier, MV Banglar Samriddhi, left Turkish port Eregli on February 21 and reached the outer anchorage of Ukrainian port Olvia on February 23 to load ball clay.

Rahman said, "As the situation deteriorated after the vessel reached there, we canceled the plan of loading the cargo from the port and asked the master of the ship to leave the port immediately and reach international waters."

But it took some time to get the port clearance and by then all operations at the port stopped due to the Russian invasion and for that reason, the vessel could not leave, he informed.

He said they kept contact with the crew members, who are still safe.

There is enough stock of food and water on the ship for at least 40 days, he informed, adding that they asked the master to ration those.