Indians Back From Hijack Ordeal

NEW DELHI, Nov. 24 -- After a two-month ordeal, five crew members of a cargo ship that was hijacked by Somali pirates returned to India on Monday.

Scenes of their tearful homecoming played on all the major television channels even as the Indian navy prepared for an aggressive anti-piracy campaign in the world's busiest and most dangerous shipping lanes.

The MV Stolt Valor ship was taken over by armed Somali pirates off the Yemeni coast in September and was released last week after its Japanese owner paid an undisclosed ransom.

The crew members came home to a euphoric welcome as people swarmed the Mumbai airport singing, beating drums and offering garlands. A replacement crew will bring back the ship to India on Tuesday.

"The past two months were horrific. I wouldn't even wish this for my enemies. We were always kept at gunpoint 24 hours and asked to stay on the bridge," said Alistair Fernandez, a crew member. "We were allowed to go inside the ship only for showers. It was very strict, and without their permission, we could not do anything."

"No physical torture; everything was mental," said another crew member, Naveed Burandkar.

The mounting threat from Somali pirates has been a bane for ships in the Gulf of Aden and along the Somali coast. According to the International Maritime Bureau, there have been about 40 hijackings this year, and the number of piracy incidents is three times as high as last year's.

The Indian navy, concerned that piracy is threatening the country's shipping industry, has foiled three hijacking attempts in the past month and has escorted 35 ships safely through what naval officials call "pirate-infested waters." The navy has said it will continue aggressive patrols to keep shipping lanes open.

Last Tuesday, the Indian navy sank a pirate mother ship after battling the vessel southwest of Oman's port of Salalah. Indian officials said the pirates were armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

This month, Somali pirates carried out the largest hijacking in maritime history, commandeering a Saudi supertanker laden with $100 million in oil. The pirates reportedly have demanded $15 million in exchange for releasing the ship and its 25-member crew.

"When one thinks about pirates, there are rosy images of romance," said Abdul Ghani, chairman of the National Union of Seafarers of India. "We request the media to project the pirates as nothing short of maritime terrorists."

In the past few weeks, the wife of the vessel's captain, Seema Goyal, ran a relentless campaign to free the crew. On Monday, congratulatory messages praising her efforts poured in and were splashed on television screens all day.

The jubilant captain of the Stolt Valor spoke to his wife on the phone, and their conversation was broadcast live.

"Who do you want to see first?" a beaming Goyal asked her husband. "Me? Or the children?"

"I love you; I would like to see you first," answered the captain, Prabhat Goyal. "I had your photograph with me all the time."