Kasargod: Lived in shadow of guns for 8 days - Sailors of hijacked ship
Stephan Kayyar
Daijiworld Media Network – Kasargod
Kasargod, Aug 1: Vasanth Kumar and K Babu, who were in the ship hijacked by suspected pirated off the coast of West Africa on July 15, and released a few days later, had a happy reunion with their families.
A K Babu with family
Vasanth Kumar with family
Sharing their experience with media persons, Vasanth and K Babu, relief and joy visible on their faces, said, "We got a new lease of life after being under the shadow of guns for 8 days. Except our life, the pirates looted everything from us. We had left all hopes of living a normal life."
On July 14, at Port Gentil in Gabon, a group of 15 pirates had hijacked the Turkey ship M V Cotton. Vasanth and Babu said the pirates had worn black clothes and were loaded with arms.
"The captain of the ship and his officials were locked in one room, while the officials who were resting in the ship were locked in the bridge house. Later the pirates looted laptop, mobile phones, clothes and everything, even the tooth paste.
"The CCTV camera and television were destroyed to pieces and were thrown in the sea. The satellite connection from the ship was also disconnected and the pirates also made officials of the ship work," they said.
The ship was later moved towards Nigeria where they looted 3,000 tonnes of cargo black oil and diesel.
The pirates aimed the guns at the ship captain and asked him to steer the ship towards Nigeria. The ship name was removed and in place of that, another name was installed. "Even though they served us food, we were not in a condition to eat out of fear of their weapons," they said.
"We did not have any hope of returning home as 8 days we were under them. After looting all the valuable items from the ship, the pirates fled from the ship. Later the ship was moved towards Ghana from where we reached Mumbai in flight via Dubai," they explained.
It was through Mumbai-based V Ship agency that the duo had joined ship work. Altogether there were 24 Indians in the ship. When asked about their decision to join back work, they said, "We will join work after spending some months with our family."