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Families relieved after Somali criminals free oil tanker hired by native traders
Wife and son of third engineer L.H. Janaka. Pix by Amila Gamage, Athula Devapriya, Rathnasiri Premalal and Anuradha Bandara
Tuesday was a day of mixed emotions for the family of Anthony Nicholas, the captain of the oil tanker Aris 13 seized and released by Somali pirates because it had been hired by Somali traders.
It was also the 10th death anniversary of Nicholas’s wife.
“He spoke to us on March 6 and 7 and he sounded very cheerful at the time. But towards the end of the conversation he told us to pray for him. That was the last time we spoke to him,” said his sister in law, Angela Jesuthasan.
It was on Tuesday evening that a neighbour of Jesuthan’s residence in Crow Island, Mattakkuliya, rushed to tell her about the hijacking they had heard on a news bulletin.
Mahendran Augustian, brother in law of Nicholas said he was told of the news at church, where he was that day to commemorate his sister’s death anniversary.
“We were petrified. Words cannot explain the feelings at the time. We were terrified not knowing what to do,” said Jesuthasan.
“We called the port captain and he responded calmly and told us that the crew will be released the very next day and told us not to worry. We were not informed by the local agent of the shipping company of the hijack,” said Augustian.
A father of two sons, Nicholas has served for 35 years from 1969. He had been serving as captain since 1990.
Families of other Sri Lankan crew members of the oil tanker were also in shock.
“It was at 1.32 a.m. on Friday when we received a call from Nicholas saying they are all safe and no ransom was paid to the pirates,” said Augustian, breathing a sigh of relief.
The Foreign Ministry was also making efforts to secure the crew’s freedom.
Deputy Foreign Minister Dr Harsha de Silva on Friday explained to the media the initiatives being taken.
The crew members panicked when the oil tanker was fired upon on Thursday. There were distress calls to their family members, media organisations and the Foreign Ministry.
Captain S.A.Nicholas
The gunfire had come from coastal guards of Somalia’s semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland. The plea from the crew was to stop the firing.
“Our lives are at risk. Get the Government to use its influence and stop the firing,’’ chief engineer Jagath Kalubowila, said in one of the calls.
Namali Makalandawa, sister of the chief officer, Ruwan Sampath, told the Sunday Times her brother had told her he had only an hour left to live.
“The pirates had demanded official attention from the Government. That is all my brother pleaded from me,” she said.
Namali then contacted the senior director general of the Consular Affairs Division, Sugath Ganegama Arachchi, and informed him of the ultimatum.
But luckily, the crew was released at about 1:30 a.m.
The crew was let go hours later after intensive negotiations between the marine force, clan elders, and the pirates.
“There has been discussions going on after the gunfight of this afternoon … We pulled our forces back and so the pirates went away,” Abdirahman Mohamud Hassan, the director general of the maritime police force of Puntland was quoted as saying by Reuters.
The pirates said they had agreed to forego a ransom after learning that a Somali businessmen had hired the Aris 13, which was taking oil from Djibouti to the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Pirates have traditionally been wary of tangling with Somalia’s powerful businessmen.
“After we came to know that the Somali traders hired the oil tanker, we released it without a ransom,” pirate Abdullahi told Reuters.
Chief officer Ruwan Sampath
On Friday afternoon, the skipper of the oil tanker, Nicholas, had called his family to confirm that he was heading to the Bosaso Port with the army commanders and that President of Puntland was also with them.
“Our prayers have been answered. We believe that God has been with us every step of the way,” said Jesuthasan.
The families were also thankful to the Government, foreign ministry and its officials and the media.
“I would like to convey my gratitude on behalf of the other family members to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka Navy and all other authorities who were involved in this mission of rescuing the eight Sri Lankans,’’ said Dinesh Vidanapathirana, the brother of the third officer, Lahiru Vidanapathirana.
The hijacking of the oil tanker was the first such incident after 2012. In their heyday in 2011, Somali pirates launched 237 attacks off the coast of Somalia, data from the International Maritime Bureau show.
Cook Shanmugam
Dr. Harsha De Silva speaking to the media
Anjela Jesuthasan
Namali Makalandawa
Dinesh Vidanapathirana
Mahendran Augustian