TDS Desk:

Myanmar’s rebel group, the Arakan Army, has released a cargo ship it had seized 16 days ago. The vessel arrived at Teknaf Land Port jetty at around 12:45pm on Saturday.

Earlier, on January 20, two cargo ships that had been under the Arakan Army’s custody reached Teknaf Land Port.

Syed Mohammad Anwar Hossain, manager of United Land Port at Teknaf, confirmed the arrival of the latest ship.

He said that the two previously released cargo ships had already unloaded their goods and returned to Yangon.

“After 16 days, the Arakan Army has released another ship. It is now at the jetty, and after completing our procedures, the goods will be unloaded,” he added.

On January 16, three cargo ships carrying various goods, including 50,000 sacks of dried fish, betel nuts, and cabbage were intercepted by the Arakan Army at the Naf River estuary while en route from Yangon to Teknaf Land Port.

Of these, two ships carrying 27,722 sacks of goods were released on January 20.

Ehteshamul Haque Bahadur, general secretary of the Teknaf Land Port C&F Agents Association, said: “After 16 days, the Arakan Army has released the detained cargo ship, which has now arrived at the jetty. This has brought relief to traders.”

He added: “However, since the seizure, no further cargo ships have arrived from Yangon.”

Local traders said that, after a gap of one and a half months, several businessmen sent cargo ships from Yangon to Teknaf Land Port on January 16.

However, at around 12pm on that day, the Arakan Army intercepted the ships in Myanmar’s territorial waters at a location called Naikkhongdia under the pretext of a security check.

This includes more than 50,000 sacks of goods, including pickles, dried fish, betel nuts, and cabbage. The detained goods belonged to several traders, including Shawkat Ali, Omar Faruq, Ayas, MA Hashem, Omar Wahid, and Abdur Shukkur Saddam.

Last Monday morning, two cargo ships, Saturu and MV Hercules, were returned, while one remained in the Arakan Army’s custody until Saturday. This ship contained more than 30,000 sacks of goods.

Importer Mohammad Ullah said: “After 16 days, the cargo ship has been released from the Arakan Army’s custody. It carried 1,600 sacks of dried fish belonging to us. This has brought relief to the traders.”

Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Sheikh Ehsan Uddin confirmed the arrival of the cargo ship at the jetty.