MUMBAI // The alarm sounded at 6.40am. It could have been a fire or a man overboard. But in the waters off the coast of Oman near the Gulf of Aden, the sound meant one thing to the crew of the Enrica Ievoli: pirates.
The ship was carrying 15,000 tonnes of caustic soda from Iran to Turkey when it was hijacked by Somali pirates, who held the 18-man crew hostage for four months.
The seven Indian crew members on board the Italian ship landed in Mumbai this week.
This account of their capture and release is based on interviews with five crew members and two shipping company officials.
Roopendran Parrakat, 51, had been watching the unidentified boat since he came on duty shortly before 6am on December 27. He and two other crew members took turns peering through binoculars at the vessel, which showed up on the Enrica Ievoli's radar as an ominous blip moving far too fast towards their ship.
"Normally, you get GPS data," Mr Parrakat said. "This vessel had no details, no name, nothing."
Forty minutes later the captain sounded the alarm, jolting Shantilal Harji Solanki awake.
"I had a feeling pirates were around," said Mr Solanki, 52, who worked as a mechanic on the ship.
He stashed his gold prayer beads in an air conditioning duct before heading up to the ship's bridge, the designated meeting point in case of emergency.
The captain told the assembled crew that pirates were approaching.
The next hour unfolded in slow motion. A skiff set out from the pirate's mother ship.
The crew watched from the bridge as four men in shorts and T-shirts hoisted a ladder and climbed on board. Two carried AK-47s. They fired shots in the air and called themselves pirates. They said they were from Somalia.
The pirates came up to the bridge and trained their guns on the captain. "They said this boat is hijacked," said Mr Solanki. One of the gunmen was shaking. Another man was bleeding, cut on the hand and shoulder by the barbed wire the crew had wrapped around the ship to stave off pirates. Five more Somalis soon climbed on board. The youngest was 14, the oldest in his 50s.
The leader carried a pistol. He was perhaps 55, thin, with a gentle way of talking. He did not seem dangerous. The men called him Maya.
Maya told the crew he did not want to harm them, that there would be no killing if they got money.
"The leader told us we are hijacking this vessel for money," Mr Parrakat said. "We need this money for our country. We are doing this for our country."
A helicopter flown in by the Turkish navy in response to the captain's distress call arrived 20 minutes too late.
The pirates held the crew in the ship's bridge, a vast room encased in glass at the top of the ship which offered 360-degree views of the surrounding ocean. Half the men got mattresses, the rest slept on blankets. They had to ask permission to go to the bathroom or take a shower. Pirates always escorted them, one man at a time. Photographs were forbidden.
The pirates led the crew - seven Indians, six Italians and five Ukrainians - one by one to their cabins and took anything that could be sold.
They stole Mr Solanki's two laptop computers, one of which he had just bought for his daughter, two cellphones, his watch, his leather shoes and all his money.
After a few days, the ship reached Somali waters and the men were allowed to call home.
Mr Solanki called his wife in Diu, an island north of Mumbai. "I told my wife: 'I am hijacked. Don't worry, we are OK."
His two daughters were sobbing too hard to speak clearly. "Papa come soon," they said.
The crew did not become friends with their captors over the long months of captivity. They barely learnt each other's names. The pirates slept separately and ate their own meals. The Somalis brought sheep on board, slaughtering one each day for food.
The ship sat in Somali waters day after day. The crew played cards, mostly gin rummy, to fill the empty hours. Some prayed.
Mr Solanki, a Hindu, kept Hanuman, the monkey god, and Vishnu, the god of gods, in his mind. "You help us," he pleaded.
Far away, the crew's fate was being hammered out in intense negotiations between the governments of Italy and Somalia and the owners of the Marnavi shipping company.
No one thought of escape.
"Everyone was afraid for his life," said Mr Parrakat.
The Somalis were well organised, operating with other pirates in the region.
Once the Enrica Ievoli reached Somali waters, Maya's group handed the vessel over to another crew of pirates led by a man named Loyan. The pirates communicated with each other by cellphone, or when they fell out of the network, through the ship's satellite phone.
Twice the Enrica Ievoli was pressed into pirate service.
In January, the ship sailed two and a half days to rescue nine pirates from a failed hijacking. Five of the nine were injured and one had been shot dead by the US navy, said Mr Solanki. The pirates put the dead body in the freezer and sailed back to Somalia.
In March, Loyan ordered the ship to chase a hijacked Spanish vessel whose captain was not following pirate orders. They never found the ship.
On April 22, more than 30 pirates, all armed, were aboard the Enrica Ievoli. They wrapped their faces in kerchiefs and cloths, hiding everything but their eyes. They lined the crew up on the deck so they could be seen, alive, from a small white plane.
The pirates kept their guns pointed at the backs of the crew as the plane circled above and then dropped three plastic containers, each fitted with a small parachute, into the sea.
The pirates scurried off the boat to collect their treasure.
No one knew how much money was in those containers, but it was clear that the pirates got what they asked for.
"Until that day, they had reason to keep us alive," Mr Parrakat said. "After they got what they wanted, they can do anything." He stayed awake the whole night, listening as the pirates left the ship in small groups.
About 5 the next morning, the last few pirates fired three farewell shots in the air.
"It was like coming out of jail," Mr Parrakat said, a big smile spreading on his face.
The captain called an Italian navy ship patrolling nearby. A helicopter circled as six Italian commandos boarded the Enrica Ievoli and scoured the ship for any trace of pirates.
"When the Italian commandos came, we felt OK, fine, we are going home," Mr Solanki said. He took his prayer beads out of the air conditioning duct.
When the men reached Mumbai on Tuesday, they were greeted with garlands of flowers.
Mr Solanki called his wife.
He bowed his head with great dignity, trying to hide his tears. He said he plans to have some jewellery made for her before he flies home.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Hydrogen: Market potential
Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.
"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.
Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.
The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.
TCL INFO
Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900