Three seamen held hostage return home yesterday 16/10/2008 Because of your PRAYERS Members of Guardian Angel With your prayers, the three Guys are back home. Anthony Clive Themudo, 26, a steward, had a double cause for celebration. He was returning home to Goa on his birthday on Thursday. With relief spelt over his face as he sat in the bus to Navelim in Goa, he said, “I want to see my mother first when I reach home.   That will be my birthday gift.” Recalling the day it began, Anthony said, “The crew members were fast asleep when we heard the chief officer’s alarm ringing around  6 am. We saw some men on speed boats make their way on our ship armed with guns. That’s when the harrowing time began.”   “The pirates survived mainly on drugs and we were given a single slice of bread each for lunch and dinner. There was hardly any water on board and crew members soon began falling ill. I do not want to work on a ship or venture out to sea anymore,” added Anthony.   Anthony’s father, Themudo, who had come to meet him in Mumbai, said he will leave it to his son to decide his career choice. “It was a testing time for us. But now I am just relieved he is back,” he added.   Other crew members   In what he believes is a second chance at life, Akbar Ali Rafeeque Juwale feels glad to be finally returning home after spending a harrowing two months on a hijacked ship. Akbar, 26, assistant electrical officer, was among three  Indians and 26 other crew members on board MV Iran Deyanat that was hijacked by Somali pirates on the Red Sea on August 22.   Akbar,  a resident of Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, said, “I would not wish my ordeal on any other man. I want to forget the last 50 days and get back to work. All the pirated wanted was money and they were capable of doing anything for it. I was allowed to call home on the second day after the ship was hijacked. I also contacted my company. Everything, like the ransom money, were discussed between the pirates and authorities at the company. We just kept praying for our freedom.”   He added, “We could see Stolt Valor, another ship hijacked by the pirates, a mile away from us. About 15 days later, we got to know there were a lot of Indian crew on it and the captain was also an Indian,” said Akbar.   Jeevan Kiran D’souza, 28, of Kasargod, Kerala, was able bodied sea man. He said, “I would like to rest for a couple of months but I cannot afford to change my career. I have invested a lot in it including my training costs. My company has promised to give me a better route.   Let me see where the things go from here. Right now, my mother and father are very happy with my return. My mother was not eating properly for a lot of days and also suffered from low blood pressure. She was taken to a hospital on Thursday,” said Jeevan.   The crew members were released on October 10. “The negotiations of the hijackers took place between the Indian ministry and an international negotiator,” said a National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) official.   Japanese-owned cargo ship Stolt Valor was hijacked on September 15. The pirates have demanded two million US dollars.

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