The Bangladeshi flagged ship MV Abdulllah, which was hijacked by Somalian pirates on March 12, is running out of food.
However the armed pirates are bringing supplies to the ship from the shore.
Sources in the merchant marine officers association claimed it quoting the hostages.
The ship had a food stock of 25 days when it was hijacked on 12 March. The pirates are also sharing the food.
The Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officers Association has been maintaining communication with the crew aboard.
Captain Anam Chowdhury, president of the association, said the pirates usually bring food to the hijacked ship in their own interest.
Generally, a ship carries enough food for the duration of its voyage and a buffer in case of delays. MV Abdullah was heading from Mozambique to the United Arab Emirates when it was hijacked. It had limited provisions as the journey was expected to last 15 days. Mizanul Islam, media advisor
of the ship owner, Kabir Group, told local journalists that that the crew are safe and sound. The ship is running out of food. Still, there is nothing to worry as the pirates are bringing food from the shore.
The owning company has been regularly negotiating with the pirates and is optimistic about a quick resolution. Mizanul Islam said, “Our efforts are on to negotiate with the pirates quickly and bring the crew safe.”
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud said the government has come a long way to free MV Abdullah.
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He was replying to a question at a briefing on contemporary affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.
"We are in contact. We are making multifaceted efforts to release the crews. Our objective is to rescue them unharmed and at the same time rescue the ship. I just want to say that we have come a long way," he said.
Owners are not in favour of military operations on hostage ships, he said.
Regarding the food shortage on the ship, he said that the food shortage did not happen when the ship was hijacked in the past. Hopefully, it won't happen in this case either.
On March 12, Somali pirates hijacked the Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah in the Indian Ocean, 600 nautical miles from the coast of Somalia.
After three days, the hostage ship with the crews was taken off the coast of Somalia.
After 9 days of taking the Bangladeshi ship hostage with 23 sailors, Somali pirates contacted the owners.