We thought it was the end: Stolt Valor captain

Many a times we had given up...we thought it was the end. The experience will remain with me all my life, Goyal told reporters.

Recounting the near death experiences undergone by the crew of merchant ship, Stolt Valor, during the two months of captivity after the vessel was hijacked by Somalian pirates, its captain Prabhat Goyal said despite the incident the spirit to sail again is still alive in him and his men.

“Many a times we had given up…we thought it was the end. The experience will remain with me all my life,” Goyal told reporters.

The 22-member crew of Stolt Valor was in captivity for two months and was released after a hefty ransom was paid to the Somalian hijackers last week.

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Goyal said the relationship with the hijackers was highly strained as they were kept at gun-point all the time. “The hijackers used to take their weapons with them even while going to the toilet,” he said.

Reminiscing an incident which saw him face to face with death, Goyal said, “One day after the hijackers realised the negotiations were not getting anywhere, they picked seven of us. We were taken to the deck. There they singled out three of us and tried to force me to abandon the vessel. I was told to get down on the ladder. The hijackers fired from their

Kalashnikovs all around me to force me to jump but I stayed put.”

The ordeal lasted two and half hours. “All this while my crew members were crying as they felt that if the captain was killed that would mean the end,” Goyal said.

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Goyal, who has put in 29 years of service as a sailor, said the Somalians did not know English and most of the time they interacted in sign language.