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Happy reunion for Stolt Valor captain

Parul Sharma

Hot pursuit is the way out of piracy, says Prabhat Goyal

PHOTO: Rajeev Bhatt

HAPPY REUNION: Captain Prabhat Goyal, with wife Seema, son Shivansh and daughters Trishi and Ayushi in New Delhi on Tuesday. —

NEW DELHI: Released after an agonising 64 days in captivity, Prabhat Goyal, captain of the hijacked Stolt Valor ship, who returned to the country on Tuesday morning, said the Indian Navy should engage in “hot pursuit” of pirates to counter the menace.

The vessel was hijacked by Somali pirates in September and the 22-member crew, including 18 Indians, was kept hostage at the port of Eyl in Somalia for nearly two months until an undisclosed ransom was paid by the ship owners.

Talking to journalists, Mr. Goyal said there was no guarantee of safety of ships moving in the waters near Somalia.

“Piracy has resumed since last year. There is no law in the Gulf of Aden, nothing works there. It is the writ of the pirates that runs. We were on our own. The Somali pirates have influence over 500 to 600 nautical miles of that area [off the Somalia coast]. Hot pursuit is the word ... which only our Navy can do,” he said.

“Sanitise the area”

Pointing out that it was a “very serious issue,” Mr. Goyal said the Gulf of Aden could not be closed down. “The Indian Navy should sanitise the area … only the Navy can stop the pirates. I don’t suggest but demand on behalf of mariners that the Navy sanitise the area. Prevention is better than cure.”

All the 18 Indian crew members on board the Japanese ship have now returned to the country. It was an emotional reunion for the family members of Mr. Goyal and six others as they arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here from Muscat around 4 a.m.

“We are happy to be back and safe … we did not know if we would ever meet our families again,” he said.

The captain said the crew felt that combat training should be made part of the merchant navy course so that officials could act in defence in such adverse situations.

Mr. Goyal pointed out that since the Stolt Valor crew was not trained for combat, it became helpless when the pirates took over the ship.

He recounted: “The experience was very bad. The pirates tortured us mentally. But in the end, we are happy to be back safe. At no point did they leave their weapons and we often had to touch their feet for mercy. The pirates even fought among themselves. They could not speak in English and some of them were fishermen earlier.”

Another crew member, Rajinder Malik from Haryana, said: “The pirates tortured us mentally and physically. They often fired in the air to terrify us. Communication was another problem.”

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