Years after their fathers were held captive in the longest Somali hijacking that dragged on for four years, the daughters of two of the former hostages say their families have yet to recover from the trauma.
And with three hijackings in March fuelling fears of a resurgence in piracy, Nareman Jawaid, a Dubai resident and daughter of Jawaid Khan, the Pakistani captain of the Malaysia-flagged MV Albedo, urged shipping companies to keep sailors safe. Her father's ship was hijacked in late 2010, and he finally saw freedom again nearly two years later. He was among the lucky ones.
“These men are not soldiers, they are sailors. So why should their families worry about their safety? If people become even a little relaxed thinking that piracy is finished, the pirates will pick this up. We must sustain a high level of vigilance and monitoring. The onus is on shipping companies to ensure the safety of sailors. Something has to be done by maritime organisations so families do not go through the whole ordeal again.”
The MV Albedo, a cargo ship with 23 men on board on its last sailing, was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on November 26, 2010, after leaving Dubai’s Jebel Ali port on its way to Kenya.
Ms Jawaid’s father was among the eight Pakistanis who released in August 2012, after their families raised a portion of the US$2.85 million (Dh4m) ransom demanded by the pirates. The pirates refused to free the entire crew.
“The emotional turmoil, the uncertainty, is not something you recover from. We were in limbo. When the pirates lied and said they have shot someone, you grieve. But you don’t know for sure if it has happened. When they (the pirates) say they are alive, then you feel okay. It’s like a sick game they play with the emotions of the family,” she said.
An Indian sailor on the MVC Albedo was shot dead, and four Sri Lankan sailors went missing when the vessel eventually sank in July 2013.
The remaining 11 crew escaped under pirate gunfire in June 2014, after suffering years of beating with wooden sticks and metal rods.
The men may have returned, but their lives are gone, said Fathima Farhana, a teacher and daughter of Sri Lankan second engineer Mohammed Bishthamy. "The pirates shot my father in his index finger. He has a shoulder injury because they hit him so hard. He lost his teeth when they hit him with a gun. It was emotional torture because how could we sleep at home? How could we live our lives when they were suffering?”
Throughout the hijacking, Ms Farhana and other relatives received threatening calls from the pirates demanding money.
“The pirates called at midnight or when I was in school. For more than a week when the ship sank, we didn’t know if everyone was okay. One Sri Lankan lady still believes her husband is alive, although we try to explain he was taken by the sea,” she said.
After earning good salaries as seafarers, these men now have to turn to construction and security jobs. Dreams of a comfortable retirement and home ownership have been cut short for many like Mr Bisthamy, 63, who now earn just enough to cover the rent. But the damage to their lives goes beyond finances.
"My father is not like before. He has changed. My mother had a heart attack and is weaker. We cannot get back what is lost inside us,” said Ms Farhana from Colombo.
Ms Jawaid, the Dubai resident, concurred. “It changes everything. You constantly feel on the edge, that something could go wrong. You are always afraid for the safety of loved ones because you have lived in fear, you have experienced it. Sometimes you think you have moved on, and then some little thing will trigger it.”
In most of the cases where hostages were held over a long period, the ship owners simply abandoned the crew and never paid their wages. Without support from the owner, the Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme has provided financial help, covered tuition fees and medical costs and visited families of hostaged seafarers in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.
“They need someone to talk to, they need support, information and honest updates,” said Chirag Bahri, regional director of International Seafarers Welfare and Assistance Network.
“It is a torturous ordeal for anyone. The main goal is that seafarers should come home safe. The worst feeling is that they have been abandoned and no one is willing to help.”
