Stolt Valor captain, remaining crew return home

HOME AT LAST: Captain Prabhat Kumar Goyal arrived in New Delhi accompanied by 10 crew members

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New Delhi: The captain of MV Stolt Valor along with 13 other crew members returned home early on Tuesday morning after spending two months in the custody of Somali pirates.

Captain Prabhat Kumar Goyal arrived in New Delhi accompanied by 10 crew members while two members went to Mumbai.

Speaking to the media at the airport Goyal said, "I want to thank the entire media for supporting us. We faced great difficulties. I can't even walk right now."

Two other crew members Bijender Singh and Nihal Singh, too, described their ordeal.

"It was difficult to communicate with the pirates. They know just a few words in English," said Bijender.

"It was a terrible experience. The pirates made us wait a week before allowing us to call home. They would randomly open fire and fight each other," Nihal added.

Second Officer of the hijacked ship, Ullas Krishna, described the horrifying experiences that the crew underwent.

Ullas said that nine pirates boarded into Stolt with heavy weapons while he was on a navigation watch since the Somalian waters were notorious for piracy attacks. The pirates, at gun point, ordered the crew to take the ship to the Port of Eyl, where about 50 more pirates joined the ship.

Ullas arrived at the Kochi International airport on Monday evening.

MV Stolt Valor was taken hostage by Somali pirates off the coast of Yemen on September 15 and was released on November 16 after the ransom demand of $2.5 million was met by the ship owners.

The captain and crew were taken to Muscat in Oman, where they underwent medical and psychological check-ups. Five of the 18 crew members arrived on Monday.

The ship and the crew of 22, which included four foreigners, were kept hostage at the Port of Eyl in Somalia.