Click to play videoMumbai: Five crew members of MV Stolt Valor, the cargo ship which was hijacked by Somali pirates over two months ago, returned home on Monday morning.
Santosh Patil, Naved Burandkar, Alistair Fernandes, Ishidore Fernandes and Omprakash Shukla returned to Mumbai from Muscat. The ship was released on November 16 by the pirates who were reportedly paid a ransom of $2.5 million by the Japanese firm owning the vessel.
The cargo ship was hijacked by Somali pirates, off the Yemen coast. on September 15.
After their release, captain of the ship Prabhat Kumar Goyal and his crew were taken to Muscat in Oman, where they were administered medical and psychological treatment.
The other crew members will be returning later on Monday. The vessel is being piloted and brought back to India by a replacement crew.
Recounting his nightmarish experience in captivity Alistair Fernandez said, "The past two months were horrific. I wouldn't even wish this for my enemies. We were kept at gunpoint 24 hours and asked to stay on the bridge. We were allowed to go inside the ship only for showers and that too two at a time. It was very strict and without their (pirates) permission we could not do anything."
His views were echoed by Patil who said, "The pirates are beasts and not humans."
"You have to keep hope that one day you're going to see your family. We encouraged one another. Now we are back. Everybody is back now," Patil added as he along with other crew members addressed the media in Mumbai.
The National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) also expressed its appreciation of the role played by the Indian Navy and media.
"We are grateful to the media. The Indian Navy is doing a very good job and we appreciate the role of the government also in this," NUSI Chairman Abdul Ghani said.
Ghani said that patrolling in the pirate-infested seas off Somalia coast be carried out under the aegis of the United Nations.
"Patrolling should be done under the aegis of the UN. At the moment some countries are there but they are particular about the nationality of the crew on board. That's why in this instance it was the demand of our union that the Government of India should send the Navy which the government finally has sent," Ghani said.
He also praised the role played by Seema Goyal, the wife of the captain of the Stolt Valor. Goyal campaigned tirelessly for the crew to come home.
"Seema Goyal has been an icon and has got celebrity status. We appreciate that because she has taken it up at the highest levels and when the wife of the captain takes it up at the highest levels, definitely it has its effects," he said.
However, Naveed also said that some crew members are willing to go back to the waters of Somalia.
"These things happen on land also. Terrorism, hijack also happen here. We are going to take it as a positive thing and not as a nightmare. Our Navy is also there," he added.
"I am happy beyond words. We spent a very sad Id. But next year, we will celebrate together," Naveed's mother Maimuna said.
The hijacked ship also had four foreign sailors on board.
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