Indian sailors freed by Somali pirates reach New Delhi

Jun 24, 2011, 8:27 GMT

New Delhi - Six Indian sailors freed by Somali pirates after almost 11 months in captivity arrived Friday in New Delhi, officials said.

The men were part of the 22-member crew of the Egyptian cargo vessel MV Suez, which was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden in August. They and their crewmates were freed after the pirates were paid a ransom of 2.1 million dollars.

The sailors were reunited with their families on arrival at the international airport in New Delhi after flying from the Pakistani port city of Karachi.

'We were in darkness and starving,' K Sharma, one of the released hostages, said of his time in captivity. 'Sometimes we didn't even get water to drink.'

'The pirates often got drunk and beat us,' he said adding, 'We had no hope we would come back. We've got a second life.'

The relatives thanked Pakistan, four of whose citizens were among the captive crew, for securing the sailors' release and criticized the Indian government for not doing enough.

The Ansar Burney Trust, a charity run by a former Pakistani minister, played a key role in arranging the ransom.

Pakistan also deployed a warship, the PNS Babur, to escort the released MV Suez after it developed technical problems.

The MV Suez sank in high seas while being towed, and the Pakistani military transferred its crew to the PNS Zulfiqar, the Pakistani daily Express Tribune reported.

New Delhi expressed its appreciation of Pakistan's assistance.

'We appreciate the timely help extended to them and sailors of other countries by the Pakistani navy,' External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said in New Delhi.

Krishna observed that many sailors from across the world were still in the hands of pirates and pressed for coordinated international efforts to fight of piracy.

Piracy is rife off the coast of lawless Somalia, where pirates are currently holding 40 ships and 583 crew members, according to the non-governmental organization Ecoterra.

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