Hijack ordeal unimaginable: Stolt Valor Captain

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New Delhi, Hours after returning home, Captain Prabhat K Goyal of MT Stolt Valor, which was hijacked by Somali Pirates more than two-months ago and released only last week after ransom was paid, on Tuesday described the ordeal as unimaginable and called for an end to piracy.

Captain Goyal returned to Delhi along with six other Indian crew members of MT Stolt Valor early this morning.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Captain Goyal thanked one and all, including the media, for extending support to Stolt Valor’s crew during the two-month long ordeal. He made a special mention of her wife Seema Goyal, who ran from doors to doors of ministers and bureaucrats to seek help in getting the hijacked crew released.

Describing piracy as a serious issue, Goyal said that the Gulf of Aden – where Somali pirates were striking – could not be closed down as it would have serious economic implications for the entire world. “About 8,000 ships pass through the area every year… A bulk of the world’s cargo is transported through the route,” he told reporters.

Goyal further noted that there were a number of vessels in pirates’ custody when he and his crew set sail for home after being freed by the pirates. “The world doesn’t know about it but there are vessels which have been abandoned by their owners,” he said.

According to the Stolt Valor Captain, the problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden started in October 2007 and the Somali pirates’ area of operation has now expanded to between 500 to 600 nautical miles off the Somali coast. The issue got highlighted only after the hijack of Stolt Valor, he added.

When asked by reporters about the solution to the problem, Goyal said that there is a pressing need to have an effective government in Somalia which is currently lawless. Past efforts by Russia, the US and the UN to install a government there have failed, he noted pessimistically. So the only temporary solution to the problem is “hot pursuit” by Navies from around the world, he added.

Asked to comment on the Indian government’s lacklustre response to Stolt Valor’s hijack, something which got highlighted after Goyal’s wife knocked at ministers’ doors for help but got none, the Captain expressed belief in the government. “My wife has her opinion and everybody has the right to express his/her opinion. What the Indian government has done or is doing is there for everybody to see,” he said.

When a reporter asked whether he would go to the Gulf of Aden again, Goyal said, “I am an Indian. I am not a Captain who is afraid of pirates. I will pass through that route again and again.”

Earlier, after landing in Delhi, Goyal had said, “The experience was very bad. They tortured us mentally. But at the end, we are happy to be back safe.”

Twelve of the 18 Indian crew members on board the Japanese ship have now returned after their two-month ordeal. While Goyal and six others arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport from Muscat at about 04:00 hours, five others had earlier arrived in Mumbai yesterday.

The ship was hijacked by Somali pirates on September 15 and the 22-member crew was kept hostage at the port of Eyl in Somalia for nearly two months until an undisclosed ransom was paid by the owners of the vessel.