Five freed crew members of hijacked ship reach Mumbai

Mumbai, Nov 24 (PTI) After spending two months in their
hijacked merchant ship, five of the 18 Indian sailors freed by
pirates returned home Monday to en emotional welcome and
recounted their "nightmare" when they were held at gun-point
on the bridge of the ship round the clock.

The five sailors flew into Mumbai from Omani Capital
Muscat at 5 AM and were greeted by relatives and friends amid
scenes of joy and relief writ large on their faces.

The Japanese-owned chemical tanker M V Stolt Valor was
hijacked by Somali pirates in Gulf of Aden on September 15 and
the crew of 22 including the 18 Indian sailors was kept
hostage at the port of Eyl in Somalia. The crew was released
on November 15 after a ransom of up to 2.5 million dollars was
paid by its owners.

Naveed Burondkar, Isidore Fernandes, Alistair Fernandes,
Omprakash Shukla and Santosh Patil, who were those arrrived,
addressed a news conference upon their arrival. The others are
expected to fly to their respective destinations from Muscat
in the coming days, officials said.

"There was no physical torture, only mental torture of
having to sit at gun-point all the time," Burondkar said.

Burondkar, a resident of Murud in Maharashtra, said the
Somali pirates, numbering about 30, were carrying Kalashnikov
assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades (RPG).

"Their only purpose was to get money and they seemed
like they would do anything for it," the 20-year-old trainee
officer said, adding they were drug addicts.

Alistair said they spent 24 hours of the day at
gun-point on the bridge of the ship and could not do anything
without the permission of the captors.

"All we had to do was to sit on the bridge of the ship
the whole day. After we were hijacked I had to cook for the
pirates for nine days but after that there was some food
arranged," said Isidore , who was the head cook.

"It was a tense time on board the ship and we had to
manage somehow. I managed to speak to my family about four
times during the captivity," Isidore said.

The crew survived on a diet of lentils and meat while
being held hostage and there was just enough staocks for all
the crew, he added.

"Even if we had to take a shower, only two of us at a
time would be allowed to go for it and that also under their
supervision. We had to take permission for everything," said
Alistair, who worked in the engine room of the ship.

Burondkar said the pirates seemed to be desperate
people who could do anything for getting the ransom amount.

The captain had warned them prior to sailing through
the Gulf of Aden that there was a risk of piracy but despite
keeping watches on the deck they could not prevent the ship
from being captured, he said.

Describing the hijack, he said, "the pirate ship fired
an RPG at the ship but it fell 10 to 15 metres short and while
continuously firing at us they boarded the ship."

The pirates had a single negotiator who would talk to
the ship's owners and then inform the ship's captain about the
progress. The captain would then inform the crew about it, the
sailors said.

The crew were sometimes allowed to make brief phone
calls to their familie, often emotional, Alistair said.

Burondkar said the pirates were constantly in touch with
each other regarding other hijacked ships and there also
seemed to be rivalries between the different pirate groups.

Burondkar, Alistair and Burondkar said they presently
have no plans to stop sailing and would take a break prior to
returning to the seas again.

"These things don't happen only on sea but also on land
where you have terrorism. What has happened was a nightmare
and I will go sailing again," Burondkar said. PTI AG
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