Mumbai:
After spending seven months in captivity, eight sailors of the MV Asphalt Venture returned to India on Saturday night. However, seven crew members still remain in captivity after Somali pirates double-crossed the ship owners even after the payment of a ransom.
"While it is wonderful to be here and to be reunited with our families, we remain deeply concerned that seven of our colleagues and friends remain in the hands of the criminal gangs," Ramesh Singh, Captain of the MV Asphalt Venture, said in a statement.
The asphalt/bitumen tanker was hijacked by pirates on its way to South Africa from Kenya, southeast of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania on September 28, 2010. Although these sailors were released two weeks ago, they deferred their return, hoping the rest of the crew would be released.
Despite being paid a multi-million dollar ransom (it's not clear what the final settlement was) for 15 men, the pirates at the last minute had refused to release seven Indian hostages. They said they won't change their minds unless India releases 100 Somalian pirates captured by the navy in recent months.
"We are totally devastated with the news. We were really hoping that after six months of ordeal our loved ones would be back," said Kapil Grewal, son of a sailor being held hostage.
Meanwhile, negotiations are still on to secure their release. "There was a Naval frigate which was escorting the vessel...till the ship was outside Somali waters...We are in close contact with the authorities and that is all I can say at the moment," said Sunil Puri, India Representative, OMCI Ship Management.
Over the last two years there have several incidents of ships from different countries being hijacked near the Gulf of Aden by Somali pirates and clearly it will take a concerted international effort to solve this problem.
"The governments of the world have to come together to solve the problem and that can happen only at the behest of the United Nations and the IMO which is the maritime body of the United Nations," said S Hajara, Chairman and Managing Director, The Shipping Corporation of India.