Hours after coming from the 10-month long hijack ordeal, 22-year-old Sachin Pawshe, a sailor with MV Suez, and a resident of Kalyan in Mumbai, considers himself reborn.
"Though my birthday is on September 6, I will be celebrating my birthday on this day from now on, because I came back home against all hopes," said Pawshe.
He expressed his disappointment with the delayed response in securing the ransom by owners of his shipping company, but was all praises for the Pakistan government for intervening, which led to their freedom.
MV Suez had sailed into Karachi port on Thursday. "When the pirates left us, they took everything including our clothes and undergarments. The Pakistani authorities treated us very well. They gave us food and clothes," said Pawshe.
Recalling his ordeal that began on October 2, 2010, Pawshe said that before launching a full frontal attack, the pirates did a drill to check if merchant vessel carried any weapons.
When they were satisfied that the vessel was defenseless, the pirates launched an attack early in the morning, taking over the ship in no time.
Owing to the language barrier, there was no communication between the pirates and the hijacked crew until a translator arrived two days later. The initial demand was for $5 million.
"During the night we were all confined to the bridge, where the armed pirates kept a watch on us," said Pawshe. The crew was fed on cooked rice, boiled potato and pasta.
"If we were lucky, they would give us freshwater mixed with diesel or petrol. But other times, we were forced to drink sea water, owing to the lack of freshwater," added Pashwe.
