Daijiworld Media Network – Kasargod (SP)
Kasargod, Jan 12: It was a joyful homecoming for Fazal Sheikh, a 25-year-old who was among the 22 Indian seamen held captive by Somali pirates, until their release recently. The captives included three Keralites, one of whom was Fazal.
Fazal, a resident of Chittari Chetukundu in Kanhangad in the district, reached home safely on Wednesday January 11.
Recalling the ordeal, he said that his ship, owned by M T Navigation Company from Italy, was on its way to Singapore with stock of crude oil, when pirates intercepted the ship near Yemen and steered it to Somalia on February 8, 2011. The ship had 22 crew members. Once the ship got anchored 30 nautical miles off Somalia, 40 more local pirates boarded the ship to support those already in the ship, he revealed.
After the initial talks between the ship management and pirates failed, the pirates started threatening the captives of imminent death. He said the seamen lost all hopes when technical snags again brought the mediation efforts to standstill. “The pirates tortured us every time the negotiations reached a deadlock. As the stock of provisions on board got exhausted, it became difficult to get a square meal a day. Thereafter, the practice of cooking some rice and distributing it among all those onboard began,” he explained.
He said every time the pirates posed death threats to them, the seamen prayed to Lord to come to their rescue and free them of this ordeal. The gang of pirates, which included a ten-year-old boy, held AK 47 rifles, and threw empty liquor bottles and left over food in the ship, and asked the captives to clean them, he added. After many months which seemed unending, the captives heard on November 24 last year that the negotiations had succeeded at last. The pirates released them after the company paid them the ransom on December 21. “The company transported us to its headquarters in a special ship, and then made arrangements for our safe passage home,” he explained.
Fazal was received by mother, Shahina Kamal, brother, Parvez, sister, Famila, and many locals on his arrival at Mangalore airport from Dubai via Mumbai. He said he keeps praying the Lord to ensure that the ordeal he had suffered should never befall anyone. At the same time, he revealed he is yet to take a decision on rejoining the company, and that any decision he might take, will be based on the collective opinion of his family members.