Saferer’s story
Jurica Ruic, a 35 year old who’s a graduate of the Nautical School in Zadar, Croatia and the faculty of Maritime Sciences and Maritime Management in Split, Croatia, went through an unthinkable journey being manipulated and slowly tortured by pirates. This is his story.
Pirates, their unmistakable, diligent, mind warping techniques, and threats to avid sailors, makes ocean waters feel less inviting. Back in May of 2007 Ruic was on a normal mission with work. “My vessel which is an FSO unit (floating storage and offloading) was moored 25 nautical miles SW(southwest) offshore Niger Delta,” said Ruic with clarity.
Ruic and the crew were guarded by 5 or 6 security boats who all needed refueling with a civilian crew and 2-3 MOPOL (the Nigerian mobile police force) officers onboard each. They disappeared without any notification 2 days prior to the attack. “In my view, I think this explains a lot,” Ruic said believing their leaving without notice was an omen.
Zipping by on speedboats, with 6 to 8 pirates on board of each, they attacked the FSO unit. Heavily armed with rocket propelled grenades, AK 47s, dynamite sticks, C4 explosives, and M58 machine guns, the pirates demanded the whites to surrender.
Raffaelle the captain, Ignazio the chief mate, Alfonso the mooring master, Mario the second mate, John the terminal supervisor and Jurica the second mate were forced away from their home on the sea. Reality started to sink in.
Ruic felt nothingness, almost as if feeling a sense of numbness had been replaced in his mind. Moreover, his company did not prepare him for a possible attack like the one he and his colleagues were trekking through.
“I was held hostage for 33 days. It was a military camp in the middle of the jungle,” said Jurica as he also recalls sleeping in a tent and eating rice and water unfit for any living thing. The living conditions were next to none as there was no hygienic availability or real food.
Escape was improbable as black mambas, the longest venomous snake in Africa and other dangerous animals surrounded the area, making it impossible to flee. Two-hundred armed militants between 16 and 20 years of age guarded the area.
The appearance of the pirates was quite distinguishable. The militants were wearing their Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) uniform with red necklaces made of some clothes with shells on it because those shells were believed to make them powerful and indestructible.
The pirates tried to sabotage oilfields but beforehand they would have rituals with their witch doctor or juju man. Failure was not acceptable, as they murdered their own men for a job done unsuccessfully.
The blame was put on the kidnaped men for stealing their oil and therefore leaving the soldiers’ children nothing to eat. MEND, as they were presenting themselves, were fighting for the benefit of Niger Delta but they were not doing that; they were fighting for own reasons, particularly to line their pockets.
Brainwashing was a normal game they played, along with promises of death. Worst of all they’d tell the 6 hostages they’d be killed in their sleep. Though after all the fear was instilled in the hostages, Ruic kept up his faith.
“That glimmer of hope was giving me power to survive and preventing me doing something stupid like: to escape or to steal the gun and try to shoot the pirate,” said Ruic. After 33 long and treacherous days, the hostages were finally released.
“Today, seafarers are exposed to a lot of stress, safety and security, company demands and the growth of piracy,” said Ruic who has ample amount of experience in this field. Nightmares were something that had to be coped with and the fact that Ruic didn’t want to talk with anybody in the beginning was a tragedy in itself. With the support of his family, friends and psychiatric support Ruic has healed.
Nowadays, Ruic doesn’t work as a seafarer anymore. Instead he has become a lecturer and consultant to help maritime companies prepare seafarers prior to sailing high risk areas.
With the help of Dr. Mike Drayton, organizational development consultant and clinical psychologist, they have developed a set program on opushostagesolutions.com to ensure others know what to do when trouble comes their way on the deep blue sea. The pirates did not defeat Ruic. If anything, their cruel actions have made him a stronger, braver human being.
Source: The Voice of Russia