Nightmare on board

Fear was what possessed the sailors over the 100 days in captivity.

They had been briefed on a situation like ship hijacking. But nothing worked as the pirates boarded their ship and asked them to surrender. Three of the sailors even fainted.

“Are they going to shoot me now? Would they let me talk with my daughter, would they?” M Idris, a deck fitter, was uttering to himself, lying on the floor of the ship's Bridge along with several others following the pirates' instruction.

Panic already gripped the sailors as they had earlier coursed the ship on a zigzag path creating waves in the calm sea in efforts to keep off the pirates' speedboat. A chill ran down their spines when the pirates threatened them with life as an Indian navy ship were nearing MV Jahan Moni receiving an alarm message. “They were furious seeing the Indian ship and pointed two rifles at the captain's [Farid Ahmed's] head. They forced him to tell the Indian ship to leave in five minutes, otherwise they would kill all of us,” Shahriar Rabbi, an engine cadet, said. The Bangladeshi ship was hijacked in the Arabian Sea on December 5. The hostages were filled with the second spell of fright after they reached Garacad, the first place where the pirates anchored MV Jahan Moni and another group of pirates were locked in a clash with the captors over the control of the ship. “The pirates warned us that the group will use us as a human shield if they succeeded to board the ship. Bullets were flying in every direction,” Ruhul Amin, the man in charge of the anchor, told The Daily Star. The crew were afraid that such an incident could occur again. To worry them further, the pirates would describe what they have done in other ships to “discipline” the hostages who had disobeyed them. Over the period, the crew members tried to play obedient slaves. “We never wanted to see them lose temper. Because it is then they kill the hostages. So, we tried to comply with whatever they ordered,” Shahriar Rabbi, an engine cadet, said. “We tried our best to do whatever they would ask us to do; may it be making coffee, fetching water or cook food,” Rabbi said. The pirates would suspect every move of the sailors. While changing location to avoid rival groups by the end of February, MV Jahan was unable to speed up due to marine growth [plants and animals that find home on submerged surfaces]; the pirates shouted that they would kill the chief engineer. “They dragged him and pinned down to the floor and pointed an AK-47. Our captain and some senior sailors rushed and 'did everything' to finally convince them to leave the chief engineer,” said Rabbi. The sailors were struck dumb with terror when Leon, the interpreter, described the killing of three on a Chinese ship. As an Indian navy ship tried to near the Chinese ship defying the pirates' order to go back, the pirates shot a sailor to death. They succeeded to send away the Indian vessel after killing two others. The sailors could understand the underlying messages of the killing stories: the pirates would kill them if the ship owner does not pay the ransom. “They would allow us to call our relatives or the owner, knowing well that we would convey the threat to them,” Rukshana Gulzer, wife of the chief engineer, told The Daily Star. One day, a crew member, Nazimuddin, was hurrying for Fajr prayer. Seeing a long queue at the place fixed for ablutions (ozu), he performed the task elsewhere. Angered at this, the pirates tied his hands and legs behind his back and forced to lie down on. Had they ever planned to free themselves from the pirates? The sailors said it could be suicidal for them. “Where would we go? Firstly, there was no way to flee the heavily armed pirates. They were pointing guns at us round-the-clock and we had to take permission even to sit,” Rabbi said. “Secondly, the entire region was infested with pirates. If we could escape our captors, their friends scattered over the area could get us again. If not, there were other groups.” The deep-seated fears have reportedly forced some to commit suicide. The Bangladeshi sailors said they were cautious and were watching each others so that nobody could even think about it. Their safe return was hence so cheering, home was sweeter.