By NNN-PTI,
Mumbai, India : After spending nearly two months in captivity, five sailors from hijacked vessel MV Stolt Valor arrived in the city today.
Five members of the 18 Indian crew arrived at the city’s International Airport from Muscat at about 0500 hours, where they were greeted by relatives and friends.
The ship was hijacked by Somali pirates on September 15 and the crew of 22 was kept hostage at the port of Eyl in Somalia for nearly two months until an undisclosed ransom was paid by the owners of the vessel.
The five sailors who arrived today in the city are Naveed Burondkar, Isidore Fernandes, Alistair Fernandes, Omprakash Shukla and Santosh Patil. The others are expected to fly to their respective destinations from Muscat in the coming days, officials said.
“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,” said Isidore, who was the head cook aboard the ship.
“I have sailed on five ships and even in the Gulf of Aden many times in the past, but this was the first time I had such a bad experience,” he said.
“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,” Isidore said.
The crew survived on a diet of lentils and meat while being held hostage and there was just enough for all the crew, he said.
Alistair said they spent 24 hours of the day at gunpoint on the bridge of the ship and could not do anything without the permission of the captors.