The Somali pirates who hijacked the ship MV Abdullah have threatened to start killing the Bangladeshi sailors held hostage unless they are paid a ransom.

In a message sent to his wife, the vessel’s Chief Officer Atiq Ullah Khan said, “Pass on this message to everyone because they are taking away our mobiles. The final word is that, if they are not paid the money, they will start killing us one by one.”

“The quicker the money can be sent, the quicker we can be released. Pass on this message to everybody. They are taking our mobiles. They are taking our mobiles.”

In an audio message sent by Chief Engineer Saiduzzaman to the ship’s owners, he said, “Sir, they are seizing our mobiles. This is our last chance. If you can keep the internet service on our ship open, then we can try and message you if a situation arises.”

“Tell them to keep it open and we will try to communicate when we have the chance.”

Relatives of the sailors gathered at the ship owners’ offices in Chattogram's Agrabad on Wednesday morning.

Jannatul Ferdous, the wife of a sailor on the vessel, said, “My husband, rank GS Nuruddin, called yesterday at 1:30pm saying that pirates were attacking them. We informed the office immediately. We spoke with him once during Asr. The last time we spoke was after iftar at 6:49pm.”

“He video called me and was crying a lot. He said their situation was very bad. They were being taken to Somalia. He wanted to see our child and I arranged it. He sent two voice notes afterwards stating that they were being taken to Somalia and would be killed one by one if the ransom was not paid.”

“We are trying to communicate with the pirates but they are still out of reach,” KSRM Group spokesman Mizanul Islam said.

"One of their strategies is to create a safe zone after capturing a ship. Then they make their demands from there. Our first priority is to free the sailors. Then recover the ship intact."

Citing the experience of rescuing the MV Jahan Moni ship hijacked over a decade ago, the KSRM Group official said he was hopeful of safely rescuing the ship and the sailors.