In February 2022, the MV Banglar Samriddhi left the port of Eregli in Türkiye, heading for Olvia in Ukraine. The day after it arrived, Russia invaded Ukraine.
Chief Engineer Mohammad Omor Faruk and his colleagues found themselves stranded with no safe way out. On 2 March, the 29 Bangladeshi seafarers would suffer a missile attack and for one of the crew, the voyage to Ukraine would be his last.
Mohammad Omor Faruk shares his story in this interview in support of BIMCO’s campaign to raise awareness about the rights and protection of seafarers.
On 23 February, the MV Banglar Samriddhi arrived at the port of Olvia in the Mykolaiv region on the northern Black Sea coast. The day after, on 24 February, Russia invaded Ukraine.
“We arrived safely at Olvia’s inner anchorage and dropped anchor. The next day, the war started.”
The start of the war meant that the MV Banglar Samriddhi and its crew were now stuck in Ukraine.
“At 08:30 I had just finished my breakfast and was sitting in my office chair when I heard a blast. In my port side, a building was hit by a missile, and a mushroom of black smoke was rising. That was the start of the war. The government of Ukraine declared military law in the country. All activity at the port was closed, including pilot operation. We could not get out. We were informed that naval mines were placed and that some of the merchant vessels had already been attacked by missiles while leaving.”
All Mohammad Omar Faruk and the team could do was wait. And take precautions.
“We communicated with the head office, charterers and local agent about the situation. We held safety meetings and motivated the crew to be aware of the situation. We stopped working on the exposed deck and only did routine cleaning jobs inside the accommodation quarters. We decided to have all firefighting equipment ready for any emergency and did a fire drill. Everything was on standby.”
On 1 March, the security situation escalated for the crew.
“Port control broadcast on VHF, instructing all vessels to switch off their AIS for safety reasons. I observed that all the vessels were following the port control instruction and I also switched off our vessel’s AIS. The agent phoned and told us there might be air strikes today in the area. We were then instructed to prepare for an emergency.”
On 2 March, the crew had a security meeting in the afternoon including how to boost morale and manage the food and water supplies for a longer period. Shortly after, at 17:10, a rocket missile hit, exploded and penetrated the bridge.
“I was inside my cabin and heard a vigorous sound and felt the vibration in the whole ship. All movable objects fell on the floor. I immediately rushed to the bridge and found a lot of smoke and fire on the bridge entrance. We could not access the bridge by the stairs. Without delay, we assembled all the crew at the muster station. All crew was there except our Third Engineer, Md. Hadisur Rahman. I got two crew members to search for him.”
Mohammad Omar Faruk and the crew fought the fire brought on by the attack which had left all navigational equipment, bridge control system and communication systems entirely damaged.
“We wanted to extinguish the fire because otherwise it would destroy the ship. We did not want that. After fighting for about an hour and a half, we managed to put put the fire. Considering the failure of all navigational and communication equipment and the war situation, it was very unsafe to stay onboard.”
As the fire was brought under control, they found their colleague, Mr Hadisur Rahman. He was killed in the attack at the age of 27. Mohammad Omar Faruk and the crew refused to leave him behind when the local port authority boat came to their rescue.
“Our colleague died in that attack. We took him with us to the bunker. This man died and it happened while we were under shelling. We could see the flashes and hear the sounds of the war. But we didn’t have any weapons.”
On 4 March, the crew was evacuated from Ukraine. They were taken to Romania via Moldova before returning home to Bangladesh.
“There was shelling and bombing going on at the nearest coast at times. We were all traumatised after the missile attack and the death of our colleague. We tried to secure the vessel as much as possible before leaving. We were taken to Moldova and flown out. After arriving home, I was in trauma for one year and could not go on board a ship and work.”
Today, Mohammad Omar Faruk is back at sea and working as a seafarer again. He still enjoys the challenges, despite the lasting impact on him and his family.
“I am sometimes afraid to sail. I still see my Third Engineer in my dreams. My wife and daughter are also afraid. But I chose this profession for many reasons. This profession is very challenging, but I love the challenge. I just don’t like the wars. All my colleagues are juniors like me, or seniors. I always encourage the other juniors. I love to travel to new places and to test the local food. I enjoy that about this profession.”
He has one important message for everyone, not least to the people outside of shipping who are either unaware or tend to forget that seafarers play a crucial role in society; one that we all depend on:
“I pray for everyone in this profession. Seafarers are the backbone of the world economy. We must be treated nicely.”
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