Bangladesh Navy boards Rohingya aid ship, extends formal welcome

BAY OF BENGAL: Bangladesh Navy officers boarded the Rohingya aid ship Nautical Aliya at about 11.10am local time Monday close to Cox's Bazar.

Led by Bangladesh Navy Captain Mohammad Nizamul Haque, the officers met with aid mission organisers in the meeting room of the captain's bridge.

"Formally, I would like to welcome you all ...This kind of charity will definitely strengthen relations between Malaysia and Bangladesh," he said.

He added that the Bangladesh Navy wad ready to extend its full support to the organisers.

"Don't hesitate to express your desire and your demands," he said.

The ship is now anchored about two nautical miles off Cox's Bazar, which it reached at about 10am local time.

The ship reached Bangladeshi waters at about 1.30am local time on Monday

The Nautical Aliya was previously sailing towards Chittagong, Bangladesh with about 2,100 tonnes of aid meant for Rohingya refugees in the country.

Aid mission organiser co-chief Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak personally told him that Chittagong's port was too crowded.

He said Najib said this after speaking with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday night.

Azeez added that permission for the mission's volunteers to leave the ship and to distribute the aid in camps nearby was being worked on.

It is also expected that the aid cargo will be transported from the ship onto barges, which Azeez said will be able to take 1,000 tonnes at a time each.

At the moment, the ship is being escorted by Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard vessels.

Cox's Bazar is close to Rohingya refugee camps in the area such as the Kutupalong camp, where more than 10,000 Rohingya families are said to reside.