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“We had left the Egyptian port and the ship was headed towards Spain. The ship was carrying a consignment of palm oil and at 8:30 that morning, we saw a white speedboat, travelling at a speed of 45 knots, coming towards us. Before the Captain could alert the British Navy in the vicinity they were already on board,” said Waseer Uddin, 23, an engine room staff of the tanker. “There were eight people with AK-47s and rocket launchers who came via a speedboat and fired at us. After firing at us, they got onto the ship and took us to a corner,” said Vimal Kumar (36), another crew member from Valsad in Gujarat.
Two British and one Irish security guard employed by a British security company on board the ship managed to escape the pirate attack by jumping overboard. The crewmembers said that the pirates fired at the guards but because of their commando training, they could swim to a safe distance. “The German aircraft came soon after but it had to turn back as we were already taken as hostages. They (Pirates) had a large cache of ammunition with them,” Waseer added.
“They would give us food twice a day and permission was required to even go to the toilet. An armed pirate would escort us,” said Kumar. “After the food in the ship was over they gave us rice and brought a live goat on the ship for us to cook and eat,” he added.
The crew was allowed to call their families after ten days of the hijacking. They were allowed to speak to their family members for exactly three minutes. “On 31st December they handed us the phone and asked us to call our families and tell them to get the money soon,” said Waseer. Shamsheen, Waseer’s wife said, “All I can say right now is that I’m relieved. The credit also goes to James (owner of Biscaglia) who regularly kept in touch with us and informed us of every step he was taking.”
Though dealing with a life threatening situation themselves several kilometres away from their homes the crew was aware about the Mumbai attacks. “When we learned about it through websites, we were all shocked. How could such a thing happen despite so much security,” said Shehraj Ulla Khan (45), a crew member.
How the ransom was paid
James Christodoulu, chairman of the Connecticut headquartered Industrial Shipping Enterprises Management Corporation (ISEC) refused to divulge any information on the amount of money paid for the ship’s release. He did mention the way the money was paid to the hijackers too. As per Christodoulu, the money was first taken out of a bank in Europe and flown to a small airport in the Middle East. From there, it was airlifted to the pre-decided point which, in MV Biscaglia’s case, was a few yards away from the point where the ship was anchored. There the money was dropped.
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Everyone knows where the money is going. They are all paying through Agents who have specialized in the job. Yet we do not want to catch the culprits and let this menace going. Shame on the entire international community, IMO, UNO, USA and all other nations who call themselves powerful. They are not powerful. They are powerless against greed. Yes. they are all responsible for this enormous infringement on human rights. Yes the seafarers are humans too.