Abducted Indian ship crew return

Abducted Indian ship crew return

Some members of the Indian crew of a Japanese ship who were released by Somali pirates after two months in captivity have returned home.

TV pictures showed five crew members arriving in the western Indian city of Mumbai (also known as Bombay).

Somali pirates captured the MV Stolt Valor with 18 Indian crew members on 15 September on board.

The threat posed by pirates off the Somali coast has been causing international concern.

More than 80 ships have been hijacked there this year.

The smiling Indian sailors who arrived at Mumbai’s international airport from Muscat in Oman said they were “greatly relieved” to be back home.

‘Living at gunpoint’

“It was a bad experience. We lived under the gunpoint [of the pirates] all day long. We couldn’t move without our permission. We slept on the bridge of the ship,” one the men told reporters.

The rest of the Indian crew members, including the captain, are returning home on Tuesday.

A campaign was launched by Seema Goyal, wife of the ship’s captain PK Goyal, who pressured the Indian government to secure the release of the crew members.

Indian media reports had suggested a large ransom had been paid by the Japanese ship-owners earlier this month. There has been no confirmation from the owners.

India is now bolstering its naval presence in the Gulf of Aden to tackle piracy off Somalia’s coast.

The Indian navy has already deployed a warship in the area and is planning to send at least one more. Delhi has formally been given permission to act under a UN resolution allowing navies to pursue pirates into Somalia’s territorial waters

Last week, an Indian warship sank a suspected pirate “mother ship” after it came under attack in the Gulf of Aden.

India is among several countries currently patrolling the Gulf of Aden, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes which connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

In recent weeks, there has been a growing demand for multinational efforts to fight the pirates.

Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991 and has suffered continuing civil strife

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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation