Chirag Bahri, who today is ISWAN’s Regional Director, India and South Asia, was held captive by pirates in Somalian waters from May to December 2010, along with 21 fellow crewmembers of the chemical tanker, Marida Marguerite.
The vessel was sailing from India to Belgium. The Somali pirates dissolved the vessel in daylight and held captive all crew members.
According to Mr Bahri, the six pirates, armed with guns, navigated the vessel to Somalia, while also threatening the crewmembers that if they don’t obey they would kill them.
The crewmembers were robbed, from valuable items as mobile phones to clothes.
In light of the incident, a negotiator was brought in, who had English speaking accent, but was of Somali nationality. The negotiator was firstly introduced as an NGO member, yet he was part of the Somali pirates.
In addition, the pirates asked for a $15 million ransom from the company.
Yet, Mr Barhi highlights that in Somali negotiations, the company has to offer to give the ransom, but first degrade the pirates’ mentality. This should happen because in the possibility that the company decides to give the money asked, the Somali pirates will then ask for more and this will have no end.
We felt in a month that we were being released, but that didn’t happen. We were finishing our fuel oil.
On everyday basis the crewmembers learned how to deal with the pirates and try to be safe. They then swapped for food or fuel oil with the other ships held hostage in the area.
We were able to produce fresh water when in anchorage. More than 300 tonnes of fresh water was delivered to other hijacked vessels.
After all, the company agreed for the payment and the crewmembers were released.
He concluded that through his experience he aspires to mitigate piracy incidents as far as possible; That’s why he joined the International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) to help those who have experienced the same situation.